Ann Johnson of GeoTech Center to Receive UCGIS 2017 Education Award

UCGIS is pleased to announce that Ann Johnson, an Associate Director of the GeoTech Center, will receive its 2017 Education Award. For decades, Ann has held influential roles as a leader and advocate of GIS&T in education at many levels. Her GIS involvement began in the mid-1990s when she developed one of the first GIS Certificate Programs at San Bernardino Valley College. Her success with that endeavor led her to a 12-yr span at Esri as a Higher Education Manager. During those years, she was an extremely effective advocate for GIS&T education both within Esri and for those in industry, business and government. Johnson has served as a PI and co-PI on numerous grants that expanded teaching of GIS&T, including the iGETT NSF grant to provide faculty with education in remote sensing. She has extensive depth of understanding about the ways in which GIS&T education and industry-needs align, and has facilitated the establishment of critical articulation agreements across academic sectors. She served as a co-editor to the original 2006 UCGIS GIS&T Body of Knowledge and a leader in the development of Model Courses associated with the Geospatial Technology Competency Model.

Equally important has been her leadership role in the establishment and leadership of the National Geospatial Center of Excellence, also known as the GeoTech Center. She has helped acquire multiple and substantial NSF grants to support this important endeavor, and as one of its Associate Directors, plays a key role in accomplishing the Center’s vision, mission, and goals of supporting and enhancing geospatial education at community colleges.

UCGIS will honor Ann Johnson and other award recipients during its annual Symposium in May 2017 in Arlington, Virginia.

UCGIS is a non-profit scientific and educational organization comprised of 60+ member and affiliate institutions. It was established in 1995 for the purposes of advancing research in the field of Geographic Information Science, expanding and strengthening multidisciplinary Geographic Information Science education, and advocating policies for the promotion of the ethical use of and access to geographic information and technologies, by building and supporting scholarly communities and networks. UCGIS is a hub for the GIS research and education community in higher education and serves as a national and international voice to advocate for its members’ interests.

For further information, visit www.ucgis.org or contact Diana Sinton, Executive Director (dianasinton@ucgis.org).