Gardels Awards

Kenneth D. Gardels Award

In Loving Memory of
Our Friend and Colleague
Kenneth D. Gardels
1954-1999

Kenneth Gardels

…think globally, act locally

About the OGC Gardels Award

The Kenneth D. Gardels Award is a gold medallion presented each year by the Board of Directors of the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) to an individual who has made exemplary contributions to OGC’s consensus standards process. Award nominations are made by members – the prior Gardels Award winners – and approved by the Board of Directors. The Gardels Award was conceived to memorialize the spirit of a man who dreamt passionately of making the world a better place through open communication and the use of information technology to improve the quality of human life.

Kenneth Gardels, a founding member and a director of OGC, coined the phrase “Open GIS.” Kenn died of cancer in 1999 at the age of 44. He was active in popularizing the open source Geographic Information System (GIS) ‘GRASS’, and was a key figure in the Internet community of people who used and developed that software. Kenn was well known in the field of GIS and was involved over the years in many programs related to GIS and the environment. He was a respected GIS consultant to the State of California and to local and federal agencies, and frequently attended GIS conferences around the world.

Kenn is remembered for his principles, courage, and humility, and for his accomplishments in promoting spatial technologies as tools for preserving the environment and serving human needs.

PREVIOUS AWARD RECEPIENTS
Recipient Organization Award Location Date Citation
Steve Liang University of Calgary & SensorUp Inc. Frascati, Italy February 27, 2023 Steve Liang
Chris Little UK Met Office Virtual December 8, 2021 Chris Little
Chuck Heazel Individual Member Virtual December 9, 2020
Linda van den Brink Geonovum Toulouse, France November 20, 2019
Joan Masó Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (CREAF) Stuttgart, Germany September 12, 2018
Marie-Françoise Voidrot Open Geospatial Consortium
(awarded for work at METEO-FRANCE)
Southampton UK September 13, 2017
Stan Tillman Intergraph Corporation Orlando, FL September 22, 2016
Paul Scarponcini Bentley Systems Boulder, CO June 4, 2015
Carl Reed CTO, OGC Boulder, CO June 4, 2015
Peter Baumann Jacobs University Bremen GmbH Calgary, AB September 17, 2014
Jeff de La Beaujardière NOAA Frascati, Italy September 25, 2013
David Wesloh NGA Springfield, VA June 20, 2012
Joshua Lieberman Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, LLP Boulder, CO September 21, 2011 Joshua Lieberman Citation
Ingo Simonis iGSI GmbH Toulouse, France September 22, 2010 Ingo Simonis Citation
David Danko ESRI Cambridge, MA June 24, 2009 Dave Danko Citation
Mike Botts University of Alabama in Huntsville Norcross, GA September 17, 2008 Mike Botts Citation
Clemens Portele interactive instruments GmbH Enghien-les-Bains, France July 11, 2007 Clemens Portele Citation
Simon Cox CSIRO Edinburgh, Scotland June 28, 2006 Simon Cox Citation
Doug Nebert US FGDC St. John’s, NF June 15, 2005 Doug Nebert Citation
Kurt Buehler founding CTO, OGC Southampton UK June 16, 2004 Kurt Buehler Citation
Martin Daly Cadcorp Ltd. Southampton UK June 16, 2004 Martin Daly Citation
Edric Keighan CubeWerx, Inc. Reston, VA June 11, 2003 Edric Keighan Citation
William Lalonde CubeWerx, Inc. Reston, VA June 11, 2003 William Lalonde Citation
Peter Vretanos CubeWerx, Inc. Reston, VA June 11, 2003 Peter Vretanos Citation
Ron Lake Galdos Systems, Inc. London, UK June 12, 2002 Ron Lake Citation
Arliss Whiteside BAE Systems Nashua, NH June 6, 2001 Arliss Whiteside Citation
Allan Doyle International Interfaces Redlands, CA April 5, 2000 Allan Doyle Citation
John Herring Oracle Corporation Reston, VA June 16, 1999  

About the award

The Kenneth D. Gardels award is a gold medallion presented each year by the Board of Directors of the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) to an individual who has made exemplary contributions to the OGC’s consensus standards process. Award nominations are made by members – the prior Gardels Award winners – and approved by the Board of Directors. The Gardels Award was conceived to memorialize the spirit of a man who dreamt passionately of making the world a better place through open communication and the use of information technology to improve the quality of human life.

Kenneth Gardels, a founding member and a director of the OGC, coined the phrase “Open GIS”. Kenn died of liver cancer in 1999 at the age of 44. He was active in popularizing the open source geographic information system (GIS) “GRASS” and was a key figure in the Internet community of people who used and developed that software. Kenn was well known in the field of GIS and was involved over the years in many programs related to GIS and the environment, including the Research program in Environmental planning and Geographic Information Systems (REGIS), California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES), Center for Environmental Design Research (CEDR), and the Tahoe Conservancy. He was a respected GIS consultant to the State of California and to local and federal agencies, and frequently attended GIS conferences around world.

Kenn is remembered for his principles, courage, and humility, and for his accomplishments in promoting spatial technologies as tools for preserving the environment and serving human needs.

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