UNB Emeritus, Angus Hamilton has done it all in century of distinguished life
Author: UNB Newsroom
Posted on Dec 8, 2022
Category: UNB Fredericton
In a remarkable career and life spanning more than a century, UNB Emeritus Angus Hamilton can now add a Lifetime Achievement Award from Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) Canada to his long list of accomplishments.
As part of the citation, Hamilton was credited for “laying the foundation for the wide expansion of geographic information systems (GIS) and helped professionalize surveying into a discipline of engineering, leading to the founding of UNB’s world-class program.”
The award recognizes individuals for their outstanding achievement and was created as a tribute to Dr. Roger F. Tomlinson O.C., a Canadian geographer who conceived and developed the GIS tool.
Esri Canada president Alex Miller (BScE’79) presented Hamilton with the award and recognized him as someone who has “inspired me as his student and many GIS professionals who have had the privilege of his mentorship.”
UNB professor Dr. Richard Langley speaks glowingly of Hamilton’s role as a leader in geodesy and geomatics engineering (GGE) research and academic programming.
“I joined UNB as an assistant professor in 1981 and Angus had already steered the then Department of Surveying Engineering into a world-leading centre for education and research in what we now call geomatics,” said Langley. “I've heard it said that Angus was like the conductor of an orchestra made up of star performers.”
Langley added that Hamilton’s approach played a key role in making UNB’s GGE department a leading surveying engineering department in North America, if not the world. His example inspired the establishment of several other similar departments across the continent.
“Angus was also a wonderful person for outreach during his UNB career,” said UNB Emeritus professor Dr. Dave Coleman. “The series of two-day workshops he organized from the late 1970s through the 1980s brought together practitioners from government and industry involved in surveying, mapping and other areas across Atlantic Canada. He also created new professional relationships that helped usher in a new era of integrated land administration in New Brunswick.”
Please join us in congratulating Professor Hamilton on his Lifetime Achievement Award. Learn more about his contributions to Canada during World War II, his career and the celebration of his 100th birthday.