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ASU Regents' Professor wins national award for research contributions


photo of Luc Anselin
April 10, 2013

In recognition of the seminal and broad-reaching nature of his research, the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) has selected Luc Anselin for its 2013 Research Award. As well as being an ASU Regents’ Professor, Anselin is founding director, professor and Walter Isard Chair in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences.

In selecting him for the award, UCGIS identified Anselin as “one of the world’s leading scholars in spatial econometrics.” His 1988 book “Spatial Econometrics: Methods and Models” has been cited over 6,000 times, and is credited, together with his over 150 journal articles, with moving the discipline of spatial econometrics into acceptance in mainstream econometrics. He developed both the theory and method of the field, and has applied his methods to numerous realms with public policy implications, including crime, health care, pollution, economic development, and demography.

In addition, the GeoDa software, whose development Anselin led, provides a tool for carrying out the spatial methods that he presents in his scholarly writings. The software now serves a global audience of more than 90,000 users.  At ASU, Anselin founded the GeoDa Center for Geospatial Analysis and Computation, which has furthered the development of GeoDa software as well as additional tools for spatial analysis, and whose faculty have generated over $7 million in research awards.  Core GeoDa Center researchers are currently developing new methods and tools to study geographic disparities in breast and colon cancer, developing geospatial visual analytics to enhance criminal justice decision support systems, and investigating the link between subsidized housing and the walkability of urban neighborhoods.

Anselin and his research groups, UCGIS argues, “have focused his research on the very best blend of theory and practice that exists in the social sciences.”  

The School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning is an academic unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.