The National Academies named geography professor Michael F. Goodchild a National Associate this January. The designation honors excellent work by people in the organization's committees and entitles the recipient to use the Member Center, located at the headquarters of the National Academies in Washington, D.C.

Goodchild specializes in developing mapping technology and has published over 300 scientific papers in his field. He is a highly decorated researcher. In 2001, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. He received the Association of American Geographers' Award for Scholarly Distinction in 1996, and the Canadian Cartographi Association's Award of Distinction for Exceptional Contributions to Cartography.

"It was a pleasant surprise," Goodchild said. "It's a way of rewarding people who have done a lot of work on committees and studies."

Congress created the National Academies in 1863 to counsel the government on matters relating to medicine, engineering, the sciences, and general research. It is composed of four academies that each specialize in one of the fields. Each academy is divided into committees that work on potential policy decisions and make recommendations to submit government agencies and lawmakers.

(Excerpted from article in Daily Nexus, Thursday, February 14, 2002, pp. 1 and 12; photo provided by Susan Baumgart)