PR - The
International Cartographic Association (ICA), the world's authoritative body
for cartography, presented ESRI president Jack Dangermond with its highest
honor, the Carl Mannerfelt Medal, on Tuesday, August 5, at the 2008 ESRI
International User Conference. The Mannerfelt Gold Medal was first awarded in
1980 and continues to recognize extraordinary merits in cartography including
the conception, production, dissemination, and study of maps. Dangermond is
only the eleventh recipient of the medal.
"Jack Dangermond is a unique
and outstanding promoter of cartography, mapping, and geography," said
Milan Konecny, immediate past-president, ICA. "He is able to bridge the
gap between research ideas and the intentions of cartographers on one side and
real practical needs of users from many different fields on the other."
Beginning as a small research
group in 1969, ESRI has grown to an organization with
10 offices in the United States and 80 international distributors supporting
users in 150 different countries. ESRI is widely recognized as the technical
and market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software. Under
Dangermond's direction, the company has pioneered innovative solutions for
working with geographic data on computer desktops, across organizations, on the
Internet, and in the field using handheld mobile technology. A graduate of the
Harvard School of Design, Dangermond holds six honorary doctorates from
universities around the world.
Dangermond was presented with the
Mannerfelt Medal for his development of new cartographic tools, the creation of
digital atlases, and his promotion of cartography. The use of maps and GIS to assist in many areas of
human activities, ranging from crisis management in disasters such as the
recent cyclone in Myanmar to issues of health and geography, is especially
innovative. Recent activities distributing and sharing knowledge and capacity
building through fundamental projects include
·
United Nations (UN) Global
Mapping—Providing opportunities for young users to become part of the development
of cartography through grants awarded to those working with cartography in
solving problems in the contemporary world
·
Highlighting and promoting, together
with ICA, the best drawings from the Barbara Petchenik Contest in the book Children
Map the World: Selections from the Barbara Petchenik Children's World Map
Competition
·
Publishing classic cartography books,
such as Eduard Imhoff's Cartographic Relief Presentation, which help
share the ideas of cartographers from around the world
"Jack Dangermond is a
pioneer defining and delimiting the use of cartography and geographic
information in support of the UN's Millennium Development Goals and the
creation of a true knowledge-based society," stated Konecny.
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