William E. Huxhold, professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), will be awarded the 2012 Education Award from the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) at its upcoming annual symposium to be held in Washington DC, May 30th to June 1st, 2012. The award recognizes Huxhold’s professional contributions of both national and international significance to GIS education.
A pioneer in the development of municipal applications, Huxhold helped develop the nation’s first computer graphics-based geographic information system for the City of Milwaukee.
He joined the UWM faculty full time in 1991, and developed one of the first university GIS programs. His book, “An Introduction to Urban Geographic Information Systems,” published by Oxford University Press in 1991, was the first textbook that focused specifically on the adoption and use of GIS for city management and governance.
Huxhold’s involvement in urban GIS education has helped thousands of GIS and planning students gain employment in city and county governments across the United States.
During his career, he has served the geospatial community, including terms as president of both the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) and UCGIS, and on the board of the GIS Certification Institute, which he helped to establish. Last year, URISA inducted Huxhold into its GIS Hall of Fame.
Closer to home, he has worked tirelessly to foster GIS education in the Milwaukee Public Schools, to spread the use of GIS across the UWM campus, and to coordinate professional and university GIS activities in Wisconsin.
His educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Dayton.
Established in 1995, the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) is a nonprofit association of over 70 universities with multidisciplinary graduate education and research activities in geographic information science. UCGIS is a professional hub for the GIS research and education community and serves as a national voice to advocate for its members’ interests.