Daniel Sui, professor and chair, Department of Geography, and Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences, has been selected by the Association of American Geographers (AAG) for its Distinguished Scholar Award in Regional Development and Planning. 

The award is in recognition of Sui’s more than two decades of contributions to the applied or theoretical understanding of development, planning and/or policy issues. In addition to research, this award also recognizes Sui’s contributions to mentoring/teaching and leadership/service roles at local, national, and international levels. 

A Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, Sui is a widely respected scholar in many aspects of technology, geographic information science (GIScience), urban, and regional research. 

Former director of Ohio State’s Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA) and current director of the geographic analysis core of the university's Institute for Population Research (IPR), Sui is internationally known for innovative applications of GIS-based spatial analysis and modeling approaches to address complex urban and regional development issues in both the U.S. and China; the impacts of technological innovations on urban and regional development (especially their social and environmental impacts); and the engagement of the general public through crowdsourcing and volunteered geographic information.

Sui will be officially recognized in April during AAG’s annual national meeting in Tampa, Fla.