USA – 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, 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 Competitio
- 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.
