Prof. David Rhind is Vice-Chancellor of the City University, London. He has been involved in GIS since 1969. His background is a varied one, ranging through earth and social sciences and computing. His previous role was as Director General of Ordnance Survey, the national mapping organization of UK. He is the first geographer to have been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, Britainís National Academy of Sciences, for nearly 50 years and he was awarded the Mannerfelt Gold Medal of the International Cartographic Society in 2005.