The award is given once in every four years 

and among the previous winners are Nelson Mandela, Al Gore and Mikhail Gorbachev.

The International Geographical Union (IGU) has announced the recipients of the prestigious 2021 IGU Awards. Jack Dangermond, Founder and CEO of Esri, won Planet and Humanity Award, which honors individuals (not necessarily geographers) who have made an outstanding contribution to peace, prosperity or sustainability, was awarded to.

The IGU Planet and Humanity Award is given once every four years and to people who have contributed to the political community or positively influenced the world. Previous recipients of the same award are Nelson Mandela, Al Gore and Mikhail Gorbachev.

According to the IGU announcement: “Although not trained as a geographer, Jack Dungermond has done more for the advancement of geography and employment opportunities than anyone in history. He consistently and consistently states that GEOGRAPHY is the key to understanding the patterns and processes that GIS reveals. ”

Over the last thirty years, Dangermond has delivered keynote addresses at scores of international conferences, published hundreds of papers on GIS, and given more than a thousand presentations on GIS throughout the world. He is the recipient of a number of medals, awards, including the Audubon Medal, National Audubon Society, 2015, the Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal of the International Cartographic Association, 2015, Champions of the Earth Award, United Nations Environment Programme, Laureate for 2013 and many others.

Jack expressed his sincere gratitude to his colleagues working in 90 countries, as well as to all GIS users, saying: “Although I am truly moved by this recognition, this honor also belongs to all of us in Esri … and to our users. IGU honors our collective work to improve GIS over the past five decades.”