Jack Dangermond
Jack Dangermond | |
|---|---|
Dangermond in 2012 | |
| Born | Paul Jacob Dangermond July 23, 1945 Loma Linda, California, U.S. |
| Education | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (BS) University of Minnesota (MUP) Harvard University (MLA) |
| Known for | Co-founder and president, Esri |
| Spouse |
Laura C. Herman (m. 1966) |
| Website | esri |
Paul Jacob Dangermond (born July 23, 1945) bka Jack Dangermond[3][4][5][6] is an American billionaire businessman and environmental scientist. He is the co-founder and president of the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), a privately held geographic information systems (GIS) software company that he started with his wife Laura in 1969.[7] As of July 2023, his net worth was estimated at US$9.3 billion.[8]
Dangermond, Esri's president, works at its headquarters in Redlands, California. He founded the company 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. Esri's flagship product, ArcGIS, traces its heritage to Dangermond's initial efforts in developing ARC/INFO.
Dangermond is the founder of GIS Day: an annual, worldwide event taking place since 1999 to celebrate accomplishments and to promote the use of GIS and its technology.[9]
Early life and education
Dangermond was born and raised in Redlands to Dutch immigrants: Peter Dangermond Sr. and Alice Meines.[10][11][12] His parents owned a plant nursery in the town.[13] Dangermond attended Redlands High School, and graduated in 1963.[14]
Dangermond completed his undergraduate degree in landscape architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.[13][15] He then earned a Master in Urban Planning from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1969.[13][5] 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.[citation needed]
Career
In May 1970, Dangermond collaborated with Kingsbury Elementary School, located in Redlands, on a landscape design involving planting a total of 300 trees for its school grounds.[16][17]
In 2000, Dangermond was selected to be a fellow for University of California, Riverside's A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management.[18]
Philanthropy
In 2005, Dangermond helped Duane Marble establish the American Association of Geographers Marble Fund for Geographic Science.[19] This fund serves to advance GIScience education by providing awards to undergraduate and graduate student research.[19] These awards include the "Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Award," "William L. Garrison Award for Best Dissertation in Computational Geography," and the "Marble Fund Award for Innovative Master's Research in Quantitative Geography."[20][21][22]
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.[23][24]
Jack and Laura Dangermond have signed The Giving Pledge.[25]
In January 2020, Jack and Laura Dangermond donated $3 million to the Museum of Redlands fund.[26]
Honors

Dangermond has received many awards, including:
- Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau[27]
- Horwood Distinguished Service Award of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association in 1988[28]
- John Wesley Powell Award of the U.S. Geological Survey in 1996
- Anderson Medal of the Association of American Geographers in 1998[29]
- Cullum Geographical Medal of the American Geographical Society in 1999[citation needed]
- EduCause Medal of EduCause[citation needed]
- Honorary doctorate from the University of West-Hungary in 2003[citation needed]
- Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal of the International Cartographic Association in 2007[citation needed]
- Honorary doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 2008[30]
- Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 2010.[31]
- Alexander Graham Bell Medal of the National Geographic Society in 2010, together with Roger Tomlinson.[32][33]
- Fellow of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science in 2012[34]
- Recipient of the Entrepreneurial Vision Award (Champions of the Earth) in 2013.[35]
- Audubon Medal of the National Audubon Society in 2015[36][37]
See also
- Geographic information science – Scientific discipline
- Michael Frank Goodchild – British-American geographer
- National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis
- Technical geography – Study of spatial information
- Qualitative geography – Subfield of geographic methods
- Quantitative geography – Subfield of geographic methods
- University Consortium for Geographic Information Science
References
- ^ "Laura Herman is bride of Jack Dangermond". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California, U.S. July 29, 1966. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Marriage Licenses Issued". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California, U.S. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Born". San Bernardino County Sun. San Bernardino, California, U.S. July 25, 1945. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
Dangermond – In Loma Linda, California, July 20, 1945, at Loma Linda hospital, to the wife of Peter Dangermond... a son.
- ^ "Paul Jacob Dangermond, Born 07/23/1945 in California". californiabirthindex.org. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
- ^ a b "Local men get degrees from Harvard". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California, U.S. June 18, 1969. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Whoo Whoo Who Has a birthday". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California, U.S. July 22, 1970 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Esri Awards GIS Users for Improving Social, Environmental, and Economic Outcomes". www.businesswire.com. July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
- ^ "Forbes profile: Jack Dangermond". Forbes. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- ^ Lochrie, Christy (November 5, 2006). "Seize the Day Therefore, be it resolved that the calendar brims with 'special' dates". Record Searchlight. Redding, California, U.S. pp. E1–E2 – via Newspapers.com.
Take GIS Day, for example, The November 15 day was conceived by Jack Dangermond, president of Redlands-based ESRI, a geography information systems (GIS) software company, according to Maria Jordan, an ESRI spokeswoman who also heads up GIS Day.
- ^ New York Times: "Corner Office – Conversations about leadership and management" retrieved May 3, 2013
- ^ "Peter Dangermond Sr., founder of nursery, dies at age 79". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California, U.S. December 12, 1981. p. A3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Reynolds, H. Y. (November 15, 1977). "Menton-Crafton News". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California, U.S. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ "Class of 1963, Redlands High". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California, U.S. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Alumnus Jack Dangermond to Earn Honorary Doctorate". PolyCentric. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
- ^ "'Daffodils' is subject of talk to Society". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California, U.S. April 20, 1970. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
The [Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society] voted to send a letter of appreciation to Jack Dangermond for his donation of a landscape design for Kingsbury school grounds.
- ^ "Kingsbury 300 trees". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California, U.S. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sparkman honored as grad school fellow". The Californian. Riverside, California, U.S. November 3, 2000. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Sherwood, Nora. "Dr. Duane Marble Explains William L. Garrison Award". Directions Magazine. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ "Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Award". American Association of Geographers. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ "Marble Fund Award for Innovative Master's Research in Quantitative Geography". American Association of Geographers. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ "William L. Garrison Award for Best Dissertation in Computational Geography". American Association of Geographers. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ Helft, Miguel, 'In largest-ever gift to Nature Conservancy, tech CEO preserves pristine stretch of California coast", Forbes, December 22, 2017.
- ^ Hamm, Keith, "$165 million private donation to Nature Conservancy" Archived February 28, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, independent.com, December 22, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
- ^ "Jack and Laura Dangermond (pledge statement)" Archived October 9, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, The Giving Pledge, n.d.
- ^ Colunga, Dina (January 24, 2020). "Dangermonds add $3 million to Museum of Redlands fund". Redlands News. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
- ^ "Esri-ceo ontvangt koninklijke onderscheiding". Computable. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
- ^ "Horwood Distinguished Service Award". Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
- ^ "Previous Anderson Medal of Honor Recipients". American Association of Geographers Applied Geography Specialty Group!. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "University Awards & Honors: Honorary Degree". Archived from the original on September 7, 2015.
- ^ "2010 Medals and Awards". Royal Geographical Society. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
- ^ Jack Dangermond and Roger Tomlinson receive National Geographic’s Bell Medal Archived November 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, GIS Lounge, July 12, 2010.
- ^ David Braun (July 13, 2010). "Nat Geo awards Alexander Graham Bell Medals to GIS pioneers". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on December 24, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
- ^ "Fellows". www.ucgis.org. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ Programme, UN Environment. "Search Results". Champions of the Earth.
- ^ "You Can't Kill Jack Dangermond's Company. Try, And It Will Only Get Stronger". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
- ^ 2015 Audubon Medal Awardees: Jack and Laura Dangermond. Retrieved April 10, 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
External links
- Jack Dangermond, Esri President – Biographical information on Esri's Web site