John Wilson

John Wilson

Dr. John Wilson is Professor of Spatial Sciences and Sociology in the Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California (USC), where he directs the Spatial Sciences Institute as well as the Geographic Information Science & Technology (GIS&T) Programs and GIS Research Laboratory. He also holds adjunct appointments as Professor in the USC School of Architecture and in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Departments of Computer Science and Civil & Environmental Engineering. His past positions include professorships in geography and soil science at Montana State University, and he has held several visiting appointments in environmental studies, geography and planning at the Australian National University, University of Canterbury, University of Utrecht, University of Waikato and the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
 
Dr. Wilson has made significant contributions to GIScience research in terrain issues and co-edited a landmark book on Terrain Analysis: Principles and Applications. His work created new representations of terrain that were especially well suited to analysis, building finite element meshes by linking contours into triangles and quadrilaterals. John’s training as a geomorphologist gave him a strong sense of the value of terrain representations, and the importance of using schemas that preserved the geomorphologically interesting aspects. His many publications in this area include examining representation of terrain features such as mountain peaks as fuzzy entities, and analyzing and mapping hydrology. The remainder of his other research has focused on the modeling of environmental systems and has made extensive use of GIS software tools, field work, remotely sensed data, spatial analysis techniques and computer models. Much of this work is collaborative and cross-disciplinary in character with the general goal of improving our knowledge and understanding of the factors linking society, the environment and human well-being.
 
Another major contribution to the field of GIScience from Dr. Wilson was the establishment and his continuing editorship of the journal Transactions in GIS. This journal became one of the standard journals in GIScience and today is among the best scientific journals in this field. It was through John’s efforts that Transactions in GIS achieved its current status.
 
John founded the Spatial Sciences Institute at the USC in 2010 and has developed it as a viable unit that is now approved for granting degrees. It has large and impressive online GIS&T master’s and graduate certificate programs with strong faculty and will launch online geospatial intelligence and geospatial leadership graduate certificate programs in Fall, 2014. The Institute also launched the first B.S. in GeoDesign degree in the world in Fall, 2013 and will launch a new and unique GeoHealth track in the Keck School of Medicine’s online Master of Public Health degree in Fall, 2014. The institute is gaining a strong role in promoting the vision of spatial sciences at USC, underpinned by GIS&T. John is one of the world’s leading academic entrepreneurs in GIScience, able to present a strong and compelling vision that embraces both research and education.
 
The UCGIS has benefited significantly from Dr. Wilson’s work and contributions. He served as Chair of the UCGIS Research Committee, Board member, President, and later Treasurer for UCGIS. His UCGIS leadership has included development of the Fellows program, leading a UCGIS workshop on research directions in spatial sciences, and, currently, he is leading a UCGIS task force to engender community participation in the GIS&T Body of Knowledge 2.0 project.
 
In recognition of his personal contributions to GIScience research and education, his role as a leading figure in the field, and his many contributions to UCGIS, Dr. John Wilson is awarded the status of UCGIS Fellow 2014.
 

Awarded Year: 
2014