MEDIA ADVISORY

TO:                      Science Reporters and Feature Writers

FROM:                 Alaska Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Facility

SUBJECT:            UAF Professor Named ASPRS Fellow

UAF civil engineering professor emeritus Bill Mendenhall has been elected as a Fellow in the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Founded in 1934, ASPRS is a worldwide scientific association representing some 7,000 professional members who advance knowledge and improve understanding of mapping sciences, which include photogrammetry, remote sensing, surveying, geographic information systems, and related disciplines.

Mendenhall holds a bachelor's and master's in Civil Engineering from Cornell University. He was a professor at UAF's School of Engineering from 1955 -1987 overseeing all photogrammetric courses taught at the university. Photogrammetry is defined as the art, science, and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment, through processes of recording, measuring, and interpreting images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant energy and other phenomena

Credited with being the first person in Alaska to compile a topographic map using aerial photography and the multiplex stereo plotter, Mendenhall in 1996 was named to the Alaska Surveying and Mapping Conference "Hall of Fame", considered the most prestigious award in Alaska recognized by the surveying and mapping community.

The ASPRS designation of Fellow is conferred on active Society members who have performed exceptional service in advancing the science and use of the mapping sciences. The nominee must have made outstanding contributions in a recognized Society specialization whether in practice, research, development, administration, or education in the mapping sciences.

Mendenhall will be honored at a luncheon of the Alaska chapter of ASPRS at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel, Thursday, Oct. 12.

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CONTACT: Tom George, UAF Geophysical Institute, 907-455-9000.

DPD/10-10-00/01-24