1999 ASPRS Fellow Award Selections Announced

The 1999 ASPRS Fellow Award winners are Dr. Tina K. Cary, John F. Kenefick, James R. Lucas, Dr. Merle P. Meyer, and Dr. Peter A. Murtha. The ASPRS designation of Fellow is conferred on active Society members who have performed exceptional service in advancing the science and use of the mapping sciences (photogrammetry, remote sensing, surveying, geographic information systems, and related disciplines).

The designation of Fellow is awarded for professional excellence and for service to the Society. Candidates are nominated by other active members, recommended to the Fellows Committee, and elected by the ASPRS Board of Directors. Up to 0.3 percent of the Society’s active members may be elected as Fellows in any one year. The nominee must have made outstanding contributions in a recognized Society specialization whether in practice, research, development, administration, or education in the mapping sciences. Members of the Fellows Committee and the Executive Committee are ineligible for nomination.

Dr. Tina Cary received her BS in Mathematics from Purdue University working forestry, agriculture, and water resources issues at the Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing (LARS). She received her MS and PhD from Columbia University with research in development of a GIS with soils, elevation, population, and Landsat data in the study of agricultural systems.

Cary joined the faculty at Cook College at Rutgers University in 1984 and became the assistant director of the Cook College Remote Sensing Laboratory. Her research focused on environmental monitoring from Landsat, SPOT and AVHRR. She also maintained her affiliation with Goddard Institute for Space Studies investigating the role of remote sensing data as an input to GIS Global Climate Modeling. Cary then joined EOSAT, and in nearly 10 years with EOSAT and Space Imaging, she directed development of new spatial data products in emerging markets and authored the financial model and business plan for a projected $100 million revenue stream. She currently resides in Colorado and is president of Cary and Associates, a geotechnology marketing firm she founded in 1998. Cary is an internationally-noted speaker, and has been described as "one of the most articulate people in the industry."

A member of ASPRS since 1976, she has served the Potomac Region as secretary/treasurer, vice president, president and advisor. She was also director of the Remote Sensing Applications Division and chaired the ASPRS Strategic Planning and Division Directors' Committees. She served on the Education, Awards, and Executive Committees. She is also a past president of the Society, 1996-97. 

John F. Kenefick received his BS in Civil Engineering in 1966 and his MS in Geodetic Sciences in 1968 from Ohio State University, specializing in photogrammetry. His experience includes time with the Ohio Department of Highways and Raytheon-Autometric. In 1968 he joined DBA Systems as the director of Photogrammetric Services Division, responsible for implementing the commercial application of analytical photogrammetric techniques. Under his direction the division engaged in analytical aerotriangulation, close range photogrammetry, camera calibration and assorted analytical photogrammetric investigations as well as all marketing activities. Since 1972 he has been president of the John F. Kenefick Photogrammetric Consulting Firm providing production software to the general photogrammetric mapping community and high accuracy photogrammetric surveys of structures. His specialties include software for analytical aerotriangulation and close range photogrammetry, training of laboratory personnel in procedures of aerial triangulation, recommendations for related equipment, conceptual minicomputer systems designs, specification preparation and monitoring for large mapping projects, and many others.

He is a member of ASPRS and the Photogrammetric Society (UK) and has published over 40 articles and reports, many in PE&RS. He has served on the Board of the Florida Region, as chair of the Close Range Photogrammetric Committee and was a member of the Computational Photogrammetric Committee. He is also a certified Photogrammetrist.

James R. Lucas received his BS in photogrammetry from Ohio State University in 1956 and started his career working for Photogrammetry, Inc. in Silver Spring, MD. In 1958 he accepted a contract with the Argentine Navy as an observer and instructor to establish control for mapping in Argentina and Tierra Del Fuego, after which he joined Autometric Corporation as a senior engineer for analytical photogrammetry and orbital mechanics and moved to Itek's Data Analysis Center. In 1969 he joined the National Geodetic Survey's Geodetic Research and Development Laboratories. In 1977 he was a co-investigator on NASA's project to develop a Seleocentric geodetic reference system using metric photography obtained from the three Apollo Lunar missions making the largest photogrammetric adjustment of more that 120,000 unknowns. He was also chief of Special Programs in the Nautical Charting Research and Development Laboratory and is currently chief photogrammetrist with NGS.

Lucas received a commendation for his work on radiation effects on the Pageos Balloon Satellite, NOAA's Administrator's Award, and the ASPRS Talbert Abrams Award for his work in the theory of airborne GPS. He holds the Department of Commerce's Gold Medal, Ohio State University's Duane Brown Award, the Society of American Military Engineer's Colbert Medal and the ASPRS Fairchild Photogrammetric Award. He was chair of ASPRS's Article Review Board, chair of the GPS Applications in Photogrammetry Committee, technical programs chair for the ISPRS Congress in 1992, and co-chair of an ISPRS Working Group from 1992-96.

Dr. MERLE P. MEYER

Dr. Merle P. Meyer received his BS in Forestry/Wildlife Management from the University of Minnesota (UMN) in 1949, his MS in Forestry/Range Management from the University of California, Berkeley in 1950, and his PhD in Forestry/Geology/Soils from UMN in 1956. His career includes assignments with the U.S. Forest Service in the Civilian Conservation Corps, a timber cruiser, and as a forestry/photogrammetric engineer. His long career in the university started as an instructor and ultimately as professor and director of the UMN Remote Sensing Laboratory.

Meyer was also a Fulbright lecturer in Aerial Photo Interpretation with the Norwegian College of Forestry. He also served as a consultant to the United Nations for aerial photo interpretation training, and survey of pasture lands in the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Liberia for the procurement of CIR photography, as well as for the Peoples' Republic of China for soils mapping, agricultural assessment, and Panda Reserve Habitat vegetation assessment. He is probably best known for his contributions to the Workshops for Color Aerial Interpretation and his contributions to the Manual of Color Aerial Photography. He has published over 150 articles on related subjects.

He was awarded the Bronze Star for his U.S. service contributions while in China, the Purple Heart, a Presidential Citation, and the Order of the Flying Cloud (Republic of China).

 Dr. PETER A. MURTHA

Dr. Peter A. Murtha is a professor with the Department of Forest Resources Management at the University of British Columbia, specializing in photo interpretation for forest analysis, remote sensing, and LIS/GIS and has over 80 publications in refereed journals. Some of his extensive research focuses on forest damage assessment using color aerial photography, monitoring reindeer rangeland via LANDSAT, as well as radar applications for rainforest monitoring and map update. He received his BS in Forestry from the University of Toronto, and his MS (1964) and PhD (1968) in Wildlife Management and Conservation of Natural Resources from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

Murtha has been a member of ASPRS since 1963 and is a past president and past national director of the Puget Sound Region. He also served as the ASP member to the advisory board for the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation (1981), and was the program chair for the RNRF Symposium on the Applications of Remote Sensing for Resource Management (1982-83). He was also the Education Committee chair (1986-93) and the Canadian Remote Sensing Society (CRSS) liaison (1994-96). He served as an ISPRS Commission VII project leader, chair of the North American Forests Section and as commission chair (1980-84). He was also chairman (1984-88) and past chairman (1988-90) of the CRSS, and served on the CRSS GIS Integration Committee. He is a contributing author to the 2^nd Edition of the Manual of Air Photo Interpretation. Murtha also holds the Val Shaw Award for Career Achievement from CRSS. He also won the ADRO Manager's Award from the Canadian Space Agency for his RADARSAT radar studies of the pacific coastal rainforest.

Founded in 1934, ASPRS is an international professional organization of 7,000 geospatial data professionals. ASPRS is devoted to advancing knowledge and improving understanding of the mapping sciences to promote responsible application of photogrammetry, remote sensing, geographic information systems and supporting technologies.