Report of the Honors Committee, 2005

The Honors Committee of the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers (SEDAAG) recognizes the achievements of students and faculty through annual awards. In 2005, the members of this elected committee were: Tim Warner, chair (West Virginia University), Katie Algeo, chair-elect (Western Kentucky University), Hilda Kurtz (University of Georgia), Dan Royall (University of North Carolina at Greensboro), and Jim Young (Appalachian State University). The 2005 Honors Committee congratulates the following SEDAAG members who received awards at the November annual meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a significant and sustained record of research, instruction, and service within the discipline of geography and the recipient's educational institution. Two outstanding members of SEDAAG were recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards this year: Professor Neal Lineback and Professor Chor-Pang Lo.

Dr. Lineback received a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has served as a professor and department chair at both the University of Alabama and Appalachian State University. In addition to being a tireless supporter of geography, he has served SEDAAG in many ways: as SEDAAG President, as state representative, and on many committees, including the Nominating Committee, the Southern Studies Committee, and the Committee on Job Placement. He has also been a regional councilor to the AAG. To quote from a nominating letter, "Dr. Lineback has become known throughout North America during the last decade for two major contributions: the institution of the World Geography Bowl and the ongoing publication of Geography in the News (GITN). The success of the World Geography bowl is clear to anyone who has observed the enthusiastic participation that occurs from a large group of students at every SEDAAG meeting. Without the Geography Bowl, few of those students would have attended those meetings."

Dr. Lo received a Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, and has had appointments at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Georgia. To quote one of the nominating letters, "Dr. Lo has built a truly astonishing record of scholarship in the area of remote sensing, photogrammetry, GIS, and China. He is the author of ten books, including GIS Concepts and Techniques in Geographic Information Systems, which has become one of the leading texts in this field." That extraordinary research productivity has not limited his service activities, which has included serving on the editorial boards of numerous prestigious journals. In addition, he has always given generously of his time to SEDAAG, including acting as Secretary and Newsletter editor between 1994 and 1996. In 2002 he was awarded the SEDAAG Research Honors Award.

Honorary Life Membership Award

The 2005 Honorary Life Membership in the Southeastern Division was awarded to David Cowen, Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography, and Chair of the Department of Geography, at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Cowen received a Ph.D. degree from Ohio State University. Dr. Cowen has a 35 yr record of distinguished service to geography. Amongst his many accomplishments is membership in the National Academies' National Research Council's Mapping Science Committee, which he has chaired since 2000. He has contributed to 7 National Academy of Science studies, and published 21 book chapters and 72 papers in professional journals and conference proceedings. He has supervised 48 Masters and 8 Ph.D. students. He has been described in the GIS World Source Book (1995) as " . . . among the foremost intellectual leaders of the GIS revolution . . ."

Research Honors Award

The SEDAAG Research Honors Award recognizes leadership in research and a significant record of scholarly publication. The 2005 Research Honors Award was awarded to John Pickles, the Earl N. Phillips Distinguished Professor of International Studies and Geography, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Pickles has Ph.D.s from both Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Natal. Dr. Pickles is an extraordinarily productive scholar, having published nine books since 1985. Several of his books are regarded as classics, for example his 1995 book, Ground Truth: The Social Implications of Geographical Information Systems is widely cited as a key work in critical GIS. Dr. Pickles' most recent book is A History of Spaces: Cartographic Reason...