Quietly housed on the fifth floor of Lattie F. Coor Hall on the west side of Arizona State University's booming Tempe campus, the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning recently became the most recognized geography program in the U.S. by the American Association of Geography (AAG).

Three more ASU faculty were celebrated as AAG Fellows at the 2023 meeting of the AAG in Denver last week. ASU professors (left to right) A. Stewart Fotheringham, Wei Li and Wenwen Li. Download Full Image

AAG is a nonprofit scientific and educational society that advances the understanding, study and importance of geography and related fields. The AAG Fellows program that recognizes those who have made significant contributions to advancing geography.

AAG announced its 2023 fellows on Jan. 11, recognizing 16 geographers in a variety of practice areas for their contributions to research, advancement of practice and careers devoted to strengthening the field of geography, including teaching and mentoring. 

Of the 90 AAG Fellows, ASU has eight, UCLA has six and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville has three. ASU’s 2023 AAG Fellows include A. Stewart Fotheringham, Wei Li and Wenwen Li; previous years’ AAG Fellows include Patricia Gober in 2018, Anthony Brazel and Martin (Mike) Pasqualetti in 2019, and Billie Lee Turner II and Elizabeth (Libby) Wentz in 2020.

“AAG is an organization (the school) is truly invested in, at both the individual and school level,” said David Sailor, director of ASU’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. “To have eight of our faculty awarded this distinction from AAG says a lot about the people who make up this school and is something we are extremely proud of.”

Fotheringham is a Regents Professor of computational spatial science, director of the Spatial Analysis Research Center and a distinguished sustainability scientist in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation; Wei Li is a professor; and Wenwen Li is a professor and director of the Cyberinfrastructure and Computational Intelligence Lab.

AAG Fellows serve the AAG, advise on strategic directions and challenges, create initiatives and mentor early- and mid-career faculty.

The AAG Fellows selection committee was composed of Anne Chin, University of Colorado-Denver; Doug Allen, Emporia State University; Jovan Scott Lewis, UC Berkeley; David Butler, Texas State University; Daniel Block, Chicago State University; and Heike Alberts, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.