Biographical Note
Joel L. Morrison was active in the development of geospatial data standards, bringing together diverse efforts within the United States to create the Spatial Data Transfer Standard. He compiled a large body of papers on the topic from professionals around the world.
He received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1968 and was hired as faculty. After teaching cartography and was department chairman 16 years. He entered government service in 1984 and joined the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia as the Senior Advisor for Geography in the National Mapping Division. In 1987, he accepted the position of Assistant Division Chief in NMD for Research. In 1995, Dr. Morrison became the Chief, Geography Division of the U.S. Bureau of the Census. In 1998, he directed the Center for Mapping at The Ohio State University in Columbus until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 2003.
Professor Morrison served as President of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and as President of the International Cartographic Association.
President of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and chair of its Cartography Division, he was instrumental in changing to the American Cartographic Association. He was one of the organizers of the Cartography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.
Professor Morrison co-authored of Elements of Cartography, the classic English-language resource in cartography. He was an associate editor and senior consultant to Goode's World Atlas. He served as editor professional journals, including Annals Map Supplement.