More Photos from the Great Regional Science Conference in Ottawa, Canada

I do find it rather amazing that, although I was born in Canada, until the 59th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, which recently took place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, I had never been to Ottawa, Canada's capital!

In my previous blogpost, I wrote about the wonderful dinner in honor of  Professor David E. Boyce, that was hosted by Professor Yoshiro Higano of Japan and the accompanying ceremony and also included several photos taken at the very memorable evening.

I often include photos in my blogposts because then one gets a sense of different locations, the atmosphere there, and, of course, the people and sights.

Below I have posted several photos taken at the conference. The first photo below is a snapshot of the view from my window at the Westin hotel that was the conference venue. The other photos were taken at the RSAI Fellows luncheon,  at the coffee breaks,  of my very own session speakers, and at a special session to honor the great contributions of Professor John Quigley, who passed away this year.

 In a separate blogpost I will be writing and including photos of the awards luncheon that took place at the conference this past Saturday.

 

Chairing the Fellows Selection Committee

Many professional societies recognize their most distinguished scholars through election / selection as a Fellow of the society. To achieve a fellow recognition signifies recognition by one's peers at the highest level of professional achievement.

Having served on the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) Fellows Selection Committee for the past two years, this year I am chairing the committee.

The RSAI website contains the following nomination information:

RSAI members are invited to nominate distinguished scholars for consideration to become 2011 Fellows of RSAI. The nomination process can be initiated by any member of RSAI and consists of a letter of nomination, detailing the scientific merit and contribution of the nominee and an up to date curriculum vitae. Current Fellows are not allowed to submit nominations. To ensure full consideration by the committee, these materials should be provided in electronic format (pdf preferred) by January 31, 2011 to Anna Nagurney, Chair 2011 Fellows Election Committee at: nagurney@gbfin.umass.edu

The above RSAI website link also contains names of all previously elected Fellows. There are presently 58 living Fellows and two deceased ones (Reginald Gollege and Walter Isard, the founder of the field of Regional Science, who passed away last month at the age of 91).

The Nobel laureate Paul Krugman of Princeton University was elected RSAI Fellow last year. David E. Boyce, Professor Emeritus of the University of Illinois, and Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University, is both an INFORMS Fellow and an RSAI Fellow.

Among the RSAI Fellows are 5 females: Karen R. Polenske of MIT, Ann Markusen of the University of Minnesota, Janice Madden of the University of Pennsylvania, and Aura Reggiani of the University of Bologna, Italy, and yours truly.

The first group of RSAI Fellows was elected in 2002 and consisted of:

• Walter Isard, Cornell University, USA
• Martin Beckmann, Brown University, USA and Technical University of Munich, Germany
• Jean Paelinck, Erasmus University, NETHERLANDS
• David Boyce, Northwestern University, USA.

RSAI has an international membership of over 3,000, more than one third of whom are Europeans. According to its web site, “Founded in 1954, RSAI is an international community of scholars interested in the regional impacts of national or global processes of economic and social change. The work of RSAI draws on the expertise of many different disciplines and this multi-disciplinary approach helps to facilitate new theoretical insights for tackling regional problems. In turn, this provides an increasing opportunity for academics within the Association to engage more fully with planners and policy makers. Building on a strong foundation of quantitative methods, regional science is at the cutting edge of research into new model design for regional analysis and impact assessment. The Association fosters the exchange of ideas and research within regional science through its publications and the international scientific conferences it hosts.”

Congratulations to Newly Elected 2010 Fellows of the RSAI

I was delighted and honored to have served on the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) Fellows selection committee for the past two years. This year's selection committee consisted of Professor Geoff Hewings of the University of Illinois (who was also the Chair of the committee), Professor Piet Rietveld of the Free University in Amsterdam, and yours truly.

The election results are now in and the 10 newly elected Fellows have been informed. The 2010 RSAI Fellows are:

Dr. Gerald Carlino of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Professor Henk Folmer of the University of Groningen in The Netherlands

Professor Paul Krugman, the 2008 Nobel Laureate in Economic Science, and Professor at Princeton University

Professor Richard Morrill (emeritus) of the University of Washington

Professor David Plane of the University of Arizona

Professor Diego Puga of the Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Spain

Professor Aura Reggiani of the University of Bologna in Italy

Professor Michael Sonis of Israel

Professor Robert Stimson of Queensland University in Australia

Professor Erik Verhoef of the Free University in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

On behalf of the committee, I congratulate all the newly elected Fellows! More information about the RSAI and the Fellows list prior to 2010 can be found on this link. (You will have to scroll down.)

It is always an honor and privilege to serve the RSAI and a huge honor to have been elected an RSAI Fellow in 2007.