Rate My Professor Waldo R. Tobler

Waldo R. Tobler (1930-2018) was Professor Emeritus of Geography and Statistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, contributing significantly to Geoscience through his pioneering work in analytical cartography, spatial analysis, and geographic information science. He earned his B.A. in 1955, M.A. in 1957, and Ph.D. in 1961, all in Geography from the University of Washington, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1988. Tobler began his academic career at the University of Michigan in 1961 as assistant professor, advancing to full professor by 1977. That year, he joined UCSB as Professor of Geography, adding Professor of Statistics from 1985 to 1994, before retiring as Professor Emeritus while remaining actively involved in the department until his passing.

Tobler's research focused on mathematical modeling of geographic phenomena, map projections, spatial interpolation, migration patterns, and early computer applications in geography. He coined the term 'analytical cartography' and formulated Tobler's First Law of Geography in 1970: 'Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.' His highly cited publications include 'A Computer Movie Simulating Urban Growth in the Detroit Region' (1970), 'Cellular Geography' (1979), 'Smooth Pycnophylactic Interpolation for Geographical Regions' (1979), 'Push-Pull Migration Laws' (1983), and 'On the First Law of Geography: A Reply' (2004). He developed the Tobler hyperelliptical projection (1973), pycnophylactic methods for preserving spatial densities, Tobler's hiking function, area cartograms, flow maps, and a global population database on latitude-longitude grids. As a principal investigator in the National Science Foundation-sponsored National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis at UCSB, his contributions established mathematical foundations for GIScience. Tobler was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1982, named Honorary Fellow of the American Geographical Society in 1965, received the Osborn Maitland Miller Medal in 1989, the ESRI Lifetime Achievement in GIS Award in 1999, the AAG Meritorious Contributor Medallion in 1971, and served on editorial boards including Geographical Analysis and The American Cartographer.