Celebration of Prof. Ian Williamson, University of Melbourne

FIG President Stig Enemark attends the celebration of Prof. Ian Williamson on the occasion of his 60th birthday and retirement as Head of Department of Geomatics by the end of 2007.

Associate Professor Abbas Rajabifard, FIG President Stig Enemark, and Prof. Ian Williamson during the celebration of Prof. Williamson 60th birthday and retirement as Head of Department. Ian Williamson holds the book dedicated to him entitled “Towards a Spatial Enabled Society” with contribution from a range of international key persons within surveying and land administration.

October 25, 2007 was a celebration day for Prof. Ian Williamson, Head of Department of Geomatics, University of Melbourne. A celebration seminar vas organized by Ass. Professor Abbas Rajabifard, the new Director of Centre for Spatial data Infrastructures and Land Administration. A range of prominent people attended to recognized the high level and long standing contribution of professor Williamson to the Department of Geomatics, University of Melbourne, the surveying community in Australia, and surveying community at a global scale.
Ian Williamson is well known in FIG especially for his dynamic contributions to as Chair of FIG Commission 7 (Cadastre and Land Management) 1994-1998.

In his speech President Enemark “Ian understood very early, that surveying, cadastre and land management are not just technical disciplines. Basically it is all about people and their living conditions and it is about building policies for sustainable development. Therefore, cadastral activities need to be built into part of the United Nations’ agenda. This new understanding transformed the discipline of surveying from a primarily measurement science activity into a foundation for sound land management for sustainable development. This is highlighted by the FIG Statement on the Cadastre, the Bogor Declaration and the famous Bathurst Declaration….. This remarkable and essential transformation of surveying - from a technical and professional activity into a broader base that services sustainable development, high level political decision making, poverty alleviation and economic growth - is Ian Williamson’s lasting contribution. FIG will follow this road ahead towards a Spatially Enabled Society.”
During the celebration a new book was launched dedicated to Ian Williamson and entitled “Towards A Spatially Enabled Society”. The book is edited by Dr. Abbas Rajabifard and includes a range of articles from key international people in the field of surveying and land administration, including Peter Dale, Stig Enemark, Holger Magel, Paul Van der Molen, Clarissa Augustinus, and many others. See the website of the Centre for SDI and Land Administration: http://www.geom.unimelb.edu.au/research/SDI_research/index.html

A Photo Gallery of the celebration event can be found at:http://www.geom.unimelb.edu.au/research/SDI_research/IanRetirement/index.html

A Short CV of Prof. Ian Williamson:

For over 30 years Professor Williamson has taught and researched cadastral, land and geographic information systems, land administration and spatial data infrastructures, in both developed and developing countries. He has published extensively on these topics. He has undertaken research or consultancies world-wide including for AusAID, the United Nations and the World Bank.

He is a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Australia (FTSE), a Fellow of the Institution of Surveyors Australia Inc., a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, an Honorary Fellow of the Mapping Sciences Institute, Australia and an Honorary Member of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG). He was Chairperson of FIG Commission 7 (Cadastre and Land Management) 1994-98 and Director United Nations Liaison for the FIG from 1998 - 2002. He is currently a member of the Executive and Chair, Working Group 3 (Cadastre), UN sponsored Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructures for Asia and the Pacific.

At Melbourne University he has been President of the Academic Board and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and is currently Head of the Department of Geomatics and works closely with the the Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration. Awarded the Centenary Medal by the Prime Minister for service to Australian society in research and geomatics engineering and surveying 2003. Today Ian is working towards Spatially Enabling Governments.

Prof. Ian Williamson, his wife Munlika, his son Mark,
and daughter Kim.



Melbourne skyline