Jack Dangermond

Jack Dangermond (born 1945), an American billionaire businessman and environmental scientist, co-founded with Laura Dangermond, in 1969 the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), a privately held geographic information systems (GIS) software company.

Jack Dangermond
Dangermond in 2012
Born	1945 (age 75–76)
Nationality	American
Education	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona University of Minnesota Harvard University
Occupation	President, Esri
Known for	Co-founder, Esri
Net worth	US$5.6 billion (November 2020)[1]

Dangermond, the company's president, works at its headquarters in Redlands, California. Dangermond founded Esri to perform land-use analysis; however, its focus evolved into GIS-software development, highlighted by the release of ARC/INFO in the early 1980s; the development and marketing of ARC/INFO positioned Esri with the dominant market share among GIS-software developers. As of 2020 Esri is the largest GIS-software developer in the world; its flagship product, ArcGIS, traces its heritage to Dangermond's initial efforts in developing ARC/INFO.

Early life and education

Jack Dangermond was born in 1945,[2] and grew up in Redlands, California, the son of Dutch immigrants.[3] His parents owned a plant nursery in Redlands.[4] Dangermond attended Redlands High School.

Dangermond completed his undergraduate work at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), studying landscape architecture and environmental science.[4][5] He then earned a Master of Architecture degree in Urban Planning from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design GSD in 1969.[4] His early work in the school's Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis (LCGSA) led directly to the development of Esri's ARC/INFO GIS software. He has been awarded 13 honorary doctoral degrees.

Philanthropy

In December 2017, Jack and Laura Dangermond donated $165 million to establish the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve on the Pacific coast—the largest ever gift to The Nature Conservancy.[6][7]

Jack and Laura Dangermond have signed The Giving Pledge.[8]

In January 2020, Jack and Laura Dangermond donated $3 million to the Museum of Redlands fund.[9]

Awards and honors

Dangermond has had a strong impact on the development of GIS methodologies, the GIS software market, GIS technology research and related analytical methods. He has received many awards reflecting the influence of his work, including:

• Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau [10]
• Horwood Distinguished Service Award of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association in 1988
• John Wesley Powell Award of the U.S. Geological Survey in 1996
• Anderson Medal of the Association of American Geographers in 1998
• Cullum Geographical Medal of the American Geographical Society in 1999
• EDUCAUSE Medal of EduCause
• Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal of the International Cartographic Association in 2007
• Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Minnesota in 2008
• Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 2010.[11]
• Alexander Graham Bell Medal of the National Geographic Society in 2010, together with Roger Tomlinson.[12][13]
• Fellow of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science in 2012
• Audubon Medal of the National Audubon Society in 2015[14]
• Academician (Valid Member) of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences

References

1. "Jack Dangermond". Forbes. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
2. http://www.esri.com/library/articles/mapping-the-future.pdf
3. New York Times: "Corner Office – Conversations about leadership and management" retrieved May 3, 2013
4. Howell, Donna (August 1, 2009). "Jack Dangermond's Digital Mapping Lays It All Out". Investor's Business Daily. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
5. "Alumnus Jack Dangermond to Earn Honorary Doctorate". PolyCentric. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
6. Helft, Miguel, 'In largest-ever gift to Nature Conservancy, tech CEO preserves pristine stretch of California coast", Forbes, December 22, 2017.
7. Hamm, Keith, "$165 million private donation to Nature Conservancy", independent.com, December 22, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
8. "Jack and Laura Dangermond (pledge statement)", The Giving Pledge, n.d.
9. News, DINA COLUNGA Reporter Redlands Community. "Dangermonds add $3 million to Museum of Redlands fund". Redlands News. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
10. "Esri-ceo ontvangt koninklijke onderscheiding". Computable. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
11. "2010 Medals and Awards". Royal Geographical Society. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
12. Jack Dangermond and Roger Tomlinson receive National Geographic’s Bell Medal Archived November 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, GIS Lounge, July 12, 2010.
13. David Braun (July 13, 2010). "Nat Geo awards Alexander Graham Bell Medals to GIS pioneers". National Geographic Society. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
14. "You Can't Kill Jack Dangermond's Company. Try, And It Will Only Get Stronger". Forbes. Retrieved May 3, 2015.

External links

• Cultivating His Plants, and His Company, The New York Times, 2011
• Fact-Checking 'Corner Office', The Atlantic, 2011
• A Sense of Where You Are, Forbes.com, 2010
• Mapmaker Follows His Own Path (PDF), Financial Times, 2010
• The Passion and the Perseverance to Succeed, The Washington Post, 2010
• Computerworld Interview Q&A: Esri's Jack Dangermond on Cloud, Big Data and Apple-vs-Google Map Wars (July 2012)
• New York Times Corner Office Cultivating His Plants, and His Company (July 2011)
• Investor's Business Daily article Jack Dangermond's Digital Mapping Lays It All Out (August 2009)
• Jack Dangermond, Esri President – Biographical information on Esri's Web site
• Biography – Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science (CSISS) Advisory Board members
• Dangermond talks about various topics on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour