Michael Frank Goodchild



Michael Frank Goodchild (born February 24,1944) is a British-American geographer. He is currently a professor of geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After nineteen years at the University of Western Ontario, including three years as chair, he moved to Santa Barbara in 1988, as part of the establishment of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, which he has directed for nearly 20 years. Goodchild became a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2002, and received the Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Medal in 2003.

Education

 * Ph.D., Geography, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, 1969
 * B.A., Physics, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, 1965

Scholarship
His most influential work has involved research on Geographic Information Science (aka GIS or computer mapping).

Caves and Karst
As a doctoral student at McMaster University, Goodchild rediscovered Castleguard Cave (20 kilometers long, the longest cave in Canada). His student Alan Glennon discovered an entrance and made significant discoveries to the Martin Ridge Cave System, Kentucky (51.8 kilometers long). Goodchild's dissertation advisor, Dr. Derek C. Ford, is a highly-influential Canadian geomorphologist and karst scientist.

Honors

 * Prix Vautrin Lud, St Dié-des-Vosges, France, 2007;
 * Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2006-;
 * Honorary Doctor of Laws, Ryerson University, 2004;
 * Honorary Doctor of Science, McMaster University, 2004;
 * Professor, Wuhan University, 2003–;
 * Faculty Research Lecturer, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2003;
 * Founder's Medal, Royal Geographical Society, 2003;
 * Educator of the Year, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, 2002;
 * Foreign Fellow, Royal Society of Canada, 2002–;
 * Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2002–;
 * National Associate of the National Academies, 2001–;
 * Lifetime Achievement Award, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), 2001;
 * Honorary Doctor of Science, Keele University, 2001;
 * Award of Distinction for Exceptional Scholarly Contributions to Cartography, Canadian Cartographic Association, 1999;
 * Honorary Doctor of Science, Université Laval, 1999

Students

 * Linna Li (Ph.D. student 2007-)
 * Indy Hurt (Ph.D. student 2006-)
 * Karl Grossner (Ph.D. student 2005-)
 * Joshua L. Bader (Ph.D. student 2003-)
 * Alan Glennon (Ph.D. student 2003-)
 * John Gallo, Ph.D. student 2007
 * Sean Benison (Ph.D. student 2000-)
 * Matt Rice, Ph.D., 2005
 * Jorge Sifuentes, Ph.D., 2005
 * XiaoHang Liu, Ph.D., 2003
 * Dibble, Catherine, Ph.D., 2001
 * Ashton Shortridge, Ph.D., 2000
 * Tom Cova, Ph.D., 1999
 * Charles Ehlschlaeger, Ph.D., 1998
 * Karen K. Kemp, Ph.D., 1992
 * Mark P. Kumler, Ph.D., 1992
 * Jay Lee, Ph.D., 1989
 * Klinkenberg, Brian, Ph.D., 1988
 * Catharine M. Hosage, Ph.D., 1985
 * C. Peter Keller, Ph.D., 1985
 * Valerian T. Noronha, Ph.D., 1985
 * Averack, Richard, Ph.D., 1983
 * Armstrong, Robin, Ph.D., 1981
 * Nina Lam, Ph.D., 1980
 * Fesenmaier, Daniel R., Ph.D., 1980
 * Waters, Nigel, Ph.D., 1977
 * Brozowski, R., Ph.D., 1977
 * Maher, R.V., Ph.D., 1975
 * J.H. "Chip" Ross, Ph.D., 1972