Jack Dangermond (born 1945) is an American billionaire businessman and environmental scientist, who in 1969 co-founded, with Laura Dangermond, the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), a privately held geographic information systems (GIS) software company.[1] As of July 2023, his net worth was estimated at US$9.3 billion.[2]
Jack Dangermond | |
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Born | Jack Dangermond 1945 (age 78–79) |
Nationality | American |
Education | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona University of Minnesota Harvard University |
Known for | Co-founder and president, Esri |
Spouse | Laura Dangermond |
Website | esri |
Dangermond, Esri's president, works at its headquarters in Redlands, California. He founded the company to perform land-use analysis; however, its focus evolved into GIS-software development, highlighted by the release of ARC/INFO in the early 1980s. The development and marketing of ARC/INFO positioned Esri with the dominant market share among GIS-software developers. Esri's flagship product, ArcGIS, traces its heritage to Dangermond's initial efforts in developing ARC/INFO.
Dangermond grew up in Redlands, the son of Dutch immigrants.[3] His parents owned a plant nursery in the town.[4] Dangermond attended Redlands High School.
Dangermond completed his undergraduate degree in landscape architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.[4][5] He then earned a Master in Urban Planning from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1969.[4] His early work in the school's Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis (LCGSA) led directly to the development of Esri's ARC/INFO GIS software. He has been awarded 13 honorary doctoral degrees.
In December 2017, Jack and Laura Dangermond donated $165 million to establish the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve on the Pacific coast—the largest ever gift to The Nature Conservancy.[6][7]
Jack and Laura Dangermond have signed The Giving Pledge.[8]
In January 2020, Jack and Laura Dangermond donated $3 million to the Museum of Redlands fund.[9]
In 2005, Jack helped Duane Marble establish the American Association of Geographers Marble Fund for Geographic Science.[10] This fund serves to advance GIScience education by providing awards to undergraduate and graduate student research.[10] These awards include the "Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Award," "William L. Garrison Award for Best Dissertation in Computational Geography," and the "Marble Fund Award for Innovative Master's Research in Quantitative Geography."[11][12][13]
Dangermond has received many awards, including:
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