Jack Dangermond

Jack Dangermond
Born	1945 United States
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, environmental scientist
Years active	1969–present
Known for	Co-founder and president of Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri)

Jack Dangermond (born 1945) is an American billionaire entrepreneur and environmental scientist who co-established the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) alongside Laura Dangermond in 1969. Esri, a privately owned company, is a leading provider of geographic information system (GIS) software. As of July 2023, his estimated net worth stood at approximately US$9.3 billion.

Serving as Esri's president, Dangermond manages operations from the company's headquarters located in Redlands, California. Initially concentrating on land-use evaluation, Esri transitioned to GIS software development during the early 1980s with the introduction of ARC/INFO. This software secured Esri's prominent position within the GIS market. The company's premier offering, ArcGIS, is a direct evolution of Dangermond's original ARC/INFO innovations.

Career

Raised in Redlands by parents who emigrated from the Netherlands and operated a plant nursery, Dangermond attended Redlands High School. He obtained a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, followed by a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design in 1969. His formative work at Harvard’s Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis (LCGSA) played a pivotal role in shaping Esri’s ARC/INFO GIS software. Throughout his career, Dangermond has been honored with 13 honorary doctorates.

Philanthropy

In December 2017, Jack and Laura Dangermond contributed $165 million to create the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve along the Pacific coastline, marking the largest donation ever received by The Nature Conservancy.

The Dangermonds are also signatories of The Giving Pledge.

In January 2020, they donated $3 million to support the Museum of Redlands.

In 2005, Jack Dangermond collaborated with Duane Marble to establish the American Association of Geographers Marble Fund for Geographic Science. This fund promotes GIScience education by providing awards that recognize undergraduate and graduate research achievements. Notable awards include the "Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Award," the "William L. Garrison Award for Best Dissertation in Computational Geography," and the "Marble Fund Award for Innovative Master's Research in Quantitative Geography."

Honors

Dangermond has been the recipient of numerous distinguished accolades such as:

• Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau
• Horwood Distinguished Service Award from the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (1988)
• John Wesley Powell Award from the U.S. Geological Survey (1996)
• Anderson Medal awarded by the Association of American Geographers (1998)
• Cullum Geographical Medal bestowed by the American Geographical Society (1999)
• EDUCAUSE Medal
• Honorary doctorate granted by the University of West-Hungary (2003)
• Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal awarded by the International Cartographic Association (2007)
• Honorary doctorate conferred by the University of Minnesota (2008)
• Patron's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society (2010)
• The Alexander Graham Bell Medal awarded by the National Geographic Society (2010), shared with Roger Tomlinson
• Fellow status at the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (2012)
• Lifetime Achievement Award (Champions of the Earth) received in 2013
• The Audubon Medal presented by the National Audubon Society (2015)

External links

• Jack Dangermond, President of Esri – Biography available on Esri's official site