Thought Leader Strives to Expand Reach of GIS in Education

Redlands, California—January 8, 2009—Thinking spatially helps solve many of the problems faced in daily life, from the simple, like finding driving directions, to the complex, such as responding to natural disasters. With a focus on promoting spatial literacy among students in all disciplines, Dr. Michael Gould joins ESRI as director of higher education. He will also concentrate on supporting the implementation of geographic information system (GIS) technology across academic and administrative departments.

"When GIS is used for problem solving, a student analyzes data within its spatial context, which allows for more informed decision making," says Gould. "GIS is used on campuses for teaching and research in traditional spatial disciplines, such as geography and planning, but there are also significant benefits from using geospatial technology in wider areas such as business and public health departments. I look forward to supporting the use of geospatial technology in all areas of study as well as the use of GIS on campuses to improve operations such as facilities management and green initiatives."

Gould brings 20 years of experience in teaching and research to ESRI. He began his career after earning a Ph.D. in geography (GIS) from the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA), University at Buffalo. Most recently, he was an interdisciplinary professor of information systems and cocreator of an Erasmus Mundus-funded geospatial technologies master's program at Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain. Gould's research expertise includes creating Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI); researching standards-based interoperability with the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC); and developing geospatial Web services.

Gould has also worked as a GIS advisor to government agencies in the European Union (EU), businesses including ESRI and Microsoft, and nonprofit organizations. An active member of the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE), Gould recently completed a two-year term as chair of its management board. He was also nominated by the Spanish government to serve as an expert on a series of research projects with the EU including Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE).

ESRI president Jack Dangermond says, "Solving the problems of the 21st century requires a populace that's adept at creating and using geospatial technology. Michael Gould is a thought leader in the international GIS community who will help foster the open sharing of information and new forms of cooperation and collaboration with the education community."

About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.


Contact:

Jennifer Caito
ESRI
Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-5404
E-mail: Email Contact