Professor of Sociology, Computer Science, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Architecture, and Preventive Medicine
Education
Biography
Dr. John Wilson is the Founding Director of the Spatial Sciences Institute in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and a Professor of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Preventive Medicine, and Sociology. He is also Co-Director of the Climate and Health Working Group, Exposure Sciences Research Core, External Factors Facility Core in the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center, Co-Director of Center for Knowledge-Powered Interdisciplinary Data Science, and Spatial Sciences Lead in the Clinical Research Informatics Division of the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute. He received his PhD in Geography from the University of Toronto, with a focus on spatiotemporal modeling of environmental systems. Dr. Wilson is the founding editor-in-chief of Transactions in GIS published by Wiley-Blackwell and the Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge Project sponsored by the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science. Dr. Wilson has received numerous honors for his research and teaching, the most recent his election as a Fellow of the University Consortium for Geographic information Science in 2014 and his receipt of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Science in 2016.
Research Summary
Dr. Wilson is an internationally recognized leader in research on environmental modeling, geodesign, geohealth, and spatial data science. His research group and the graduate and undergraduate students affiliated with the Wilson Map Lab provide spatial analytics, designs, and models to help inform how we can build healthier communities and more resilient and sustainable rural and urban landscapes. Dr. Wilson collaborates with architects, planners, and scientists in a variety of domains on spatial perspectives about human health, sustainability, and the environment.
Awards
• 2019 University Consortium for Geographic Information Science Education Award
• 2016 International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Science Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2014 University Consortium for Geographic Information Science Fellow
• 2005 Mellon Award for Excellence in Mentoring, Center for Excellence in Teaching, USC
• 2004 Albert S. Raubenheimer Outstanding Faculty Award, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, USC
