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RSAI
RSAI DISSERTATION AWARD

The Association invites the submission of dissertations completed in 2007/08 in the field of Regional Science to the annual competition.

 

To apply, send an executive summary electronically no later than June 1, 2008 to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Two copies of the dissertation and a letter of nomination from the research supervisor should follow by regular mail, to be received no later than July 1, 2008. Send all submissions to Professor Gunther Maier, Institute for Regional Development and Environment, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Augasse 2-6, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. The dissertations should be in finished form and professionally presented. A CD with a PDF copy of the dissertation may be included.

 

For further information about the RSAI Dissertation Competition, please contact Prof. Maier at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

RSAI DISSERTATION AWARD

The Association invites the submission of dissertations completed in 2006/07 in the field of Regional Science to the annual competition.

To apply, send an executive summary electronically no later than June 1, 2007. Two copies of the dissertation and a letter of nomination from the research supervisor should follow by regular mail, to be received no later than July 1, 2007. Send all submissions to Professor Antonio Páez, School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton ON L8S 4K1, Canada. The dissertations should be in finished form and professionally presented. A CD with a PDF copy of the dissertation may be included.

For further information about the RSAI Dissertation Competition, please contact Prof. Páez at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

  • The RSAI presented its annual Dissertation Competition award at the 2006 North American meetings in Toronto to Dr. Eric Delmelle for his thesis entitled “Optimization of Second-Phase Spatial Sampling Using Auxiliary Information.” Dr. Delmelle received his Doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and was supervised by Prof. Peter Rogerson. Honorable Mentions were awarded to Drs. Georgeanne Artz (PhD: University of Iowa) and Julie Hwang (PhD: SUNY at Buffalo).
  • The RSAI presented its annual Dissertation Competition award at the 2005 North American meetings in Las Vegas to Dr. Ikuho YamadaAnalysis of Spatial Clusters when the Phenomenon is Constrained by a Network Space". Dr. Yamada received her Doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and was supervised by Prof. Jean-Claude Thill. for her work "
  • Dr. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk received the 2004 RSAI dissertation competition award for his work "Culture and Economic Development." Dr. Beugelsdijk received his Doctorate from Tiburg University and was supervised by Professor Noorderhaven.
  • Dr. Jun Koo received the 2003 dissertation competition award for his work "When Technology Spillovers Are Localized: Importance of Regional and Industrial Attributes." Dr. Koo received his Doctorate from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and was supervised by Professor Harvey Goldstein. Koo is now at Cleveland State University.
  • Dr. Adelheid Holl received the 2002 dissertation competition award for her work entitled "Transport Infrastructure in Lagging European Regions."

 

REGIONAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDER'S MEDAL

The Regional Science Association was founded in 1954 to provide intellectual leadership in the study of social, economic, political and behavioral phenomena with a spatial dimension. Consequently, the Association brings together scholars from a large number of fields, including economics, geography, urban and regional planning, civil engineering, sociology, finance and political science. Members are found in academic institutions, in government, in consulting organizations and a variety of private firms. In 1990, the Association changed its organizational structure to better reflect the growth and development of the field; the Regional Science Association International now serves as an umbrella organization overseeing three major superregional organizations in North America, Europe and the Pacific.

The main objectives of the Association are the fostering of exchange of ideas and the promotion of studies focusing on the region, including the utilization of tools, methods and theoretical frameworks, specifically designed for regional analysis as well as concept, procedures and analytical techniques of the various social and other sciences. These objectives are supported through the acquaintance and discussion among its members and with scholars in related fields, by the encouragement of publication of scholarly studies and by performing services to aid the advancement of its members and the field of regional science. For more information contact the Regional Science Association International.

Traditionally, the RSAI honored its leading members through their election to the office of President. This practice changed in 1990, when the President became principally a leadership position in the Association. In 1978, the Association honored its founder, Professor Walter Isard, by establishing the Founder's Medal. Today, this award remains the only honor conveyed by the Association as a whole, although its three supraregional organizations have established annual awards.

The Founder's Medal was established to recognize lifetime contributions to the field of Regional Science and to the Association. The criteria established for the award are as follows:

  • The recipient should be a senior scholar who has contributed in an important way to the field of Regional Science in a scholarly sense;

  • The recipient should have been active in the RSAI for a sustained period, but not necessarily active at the time of the award; also, the award is not given posthumously;

  • The recipient should be a person with whom many members can identify; his/her contributions could be a major work in one area or many works in several areas;

  • The contribution need not be limited to one type of contribution; it might be theory, method or policy, for example;

  • It is recognized that the native country and language of scholars affect the extent to which they are known by the membership, and an effort should be made to take this into account.

The recipients of the Founder's Medal:

  1. Walter Isard, Professor of Economics, Regional Science and Peace Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; in 1979, Professor Isard became Professor of Economics (Regional Science and Peace Science), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; awarded in 1978 at the North American Meetings, Chicago.

  2. Martin J. Beckmann, Professor of Economics, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA, and Professor of Applied Mathematics (Operations Research), Technical University, Munich, Germany; awarded in 1983 at the North American Meetings, Chicago.

  3. William Alonso, Saltonstall Professor of Population Policy, Center for Population Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; awarded in 1991 at the North American Meetings, New Orleans (deceased, 1999).

  4. Jean H. P. Paelinck, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Rotterdam School of Economics, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; awarded in 1996 at the World Congress, Tokyo.

  5. David E. Boyce, Professor of Transportation and Regional Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; awarded in 2000 at the World Congress, Lugano.

  6. Peter Nijkamp, Chair and Professor of Regional and Urban Economics and Economic Geography, Free University, Amsterdam, and President of the governing board of the Netherlands Research Council; awarded in 2004 at the World Congress, Port Elizabeth

  7. Antoine Bailly, Born in 1944, Antoine Bailly is professor emeritus of economic geography at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He is the president of the IGU Applied Geography Commission, of the Scientific Committee of the INRA PSDR (France) and of the Forum Sante Gesundheit (Switzerland). He was presented with the Founder's medal at ERSA conference Liverpool, August 2008.

RSAI Fellows Awards

RSAI members are invited to nominate distinguished scholars for consideration to become 2008 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, 2008 to Manfried Fischer, Chair 2008 Fellows Election Committee at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

In 2001, the RSAI Council initiated the RSAI Fellows Award to honor a select group of members of the Association who have made important scholarly and research contributions to the field of regional science. The inaugural Fellows were the living recipients of the Founder's Medal at that time:

  • 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

In 2003, four Fellows were elected by the inaugural Fellows, and recognized at the 50th North American Meetings in Philadelphia:

  • Masahisa Fujita, Kyoto University, JAPAN
  • Geoffrey J. D. Hewings, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA
  • Tony E. Smith, University of Pennsylvania, USA
  • Jacques Thisse, Catholic University of Louvain, BELGIUM

2004, four Fellows were elected, and recognized at the 51st North American Meetings at Seattle:

  • Luc Anselin, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA
  • J. Vernon Henderson, Brown University, USA
  • Peter Nijkamp, Erasmus University, NETHERLANDS
  • John M. Quigley, University of California, Berkeley, USA

In 2005, five members of the RSAI were honored at the 52nd North American Meetings at Las Vegas:

  • Marcus Berliant, Washington University in Saint Louis, USA
  • Jan K. Brueckner, University of California, Irvine, USA
  • Arthur Getis, San Diego State University, USA
  • David Pines, Tel-Aviv University, ISRAEL
  • Karen R. Polenske, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

In 2006, ten new Fellows of the RSAI were honored at the North American Meetings for a world-wide total of 27 from six disciplines and eight countries. They are:
  • Alex Anas, SUNY Buffalo, USA
  • Richard Arnott, Boston College, USA
  • Peter Batey, University of Liverpool, UK
  • Manfred M. Fischer, University of Vienna, AUSTRIA
  • Michael J. Greenwood, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
  • Kingsley Haynes, George Mason University, USA
  • Tschango John Kim, University of Illinois, USA
  • Ann Markusen, University of Minnesota, USA
  • John Parr, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK
  • Kenneth A. Small, University of California, Irvine, USA

In 2007, five new Fellows of the RSAI were honored at the North American Meetings for a world-wide total of 32 from six disciplines and eight countries. They are:

  • Yoshitsugu Kanemoto, University of Tokyo, JAPAN
  • Harry H. Kelejian, University of Maryland, USA
  • Anna Nagurney, University of Massachusetts, USA
  • Yorgos Y. Papageorgiou, McMaster University, CANADA
  • Alan Wilson, University College London, England, UK

In 2008, seven new Fellows of the RSAI were honored. They are:

  • T.R.Lakshmanan, University of Boston
  • Daniel  McMillen, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • John McDonald, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Jan Oosterhaven, University of Groningen
  • Harry W. Richardson, University of Southern California
  • Roger Stough, George Mason University
  • Takatoshi Tabuchi, University of Tokyo