The University of Texas School of Information is delighted to announce that Dr. Tony Grubesic will join the faculty as Professor and Associate Dean for Research beginning August 12, 2019.
Grubesic will be the Texas iSchool’s first Associate Dean for Research – a new senior leadership position created by Dean Eric T. Meyer.
"Tony is an extraordinary scholar and researcher with a proven track record in attracting research funding and using it to make significant contributions to knowledge and policy; I am looking forward to having him on my leadership team," said Dean Meyer announcing Grubesic’s appointment.
Grubesic is currently Director of the Center for Spatial Reasoning & Policy Analytics at Arizona State University. He is also Professor of Policy Analytics in the College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Professor and Fellow in the School of Public Affairs, and Professor in the School of Geographical Science and Urban Planning at Arizona State University.
His topical research and teaching interests include geographic information science, social informatics, spatial analytics, regional development, and public policy evaluation. As a geographic information scientist, Grubesic’s broader research interests includetechnology, policy and society; urban and environmental planning; public health; transport systems and policy; human environmental interaction; remote sensing, data quality; and error and uncertainty.
His work utilizes a range of methodological approaches including geographic information systems, location modeling, remote sensing, spatial statistics, mathematical optimization, network analysis and machine learning.
Grubesic has taught a range of courses from introductory, intermediate, and advanced GIScience and spatial analytical methods, to spatial statistics, pattern detection, and multiple courses on technology policy.
He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, and Telematics and Informatics, and author of over 160 research publications. His latest book, UAVs and Urban Spatial Analysis - An Introduction will be published by Springer in early 2020.
His most recent work focuses on community vulnerability, environmental risk, and regional infrastructure systems. Grubesic is currently leading a team of six interdisciplinary researchers from three different universities – including UT Austin – on a project that received a multi-million dollar grant from the Department of Defense to improve national security by tracking the movement of pollen.
"It is an honor to be selected as the first Associate Dean for Research at the University of Texas iSchool,” said Grubesic. “I look forward to helping the iSchool become the most engaged and collaborative unit on the UT campus, and together with the senior leadership and our amazing students, faculty, and staff, I am committed to diversifying and expanding the iSchool’s research portfolio."
“It’s not every day that an FAA certified commercial drone pilot becomes an iSchool’s Associate Dean,” said Dean Meyer. “I think I speak for everyone when I say that we look forward to working with Tony to enhance the impacts of research at the School of Information and UT Austin.”
Grubesic obtained a B.A. in Political Science from Willamette University, a B.S. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, a M.A. in Geography and Planning from the University of Akron, and a Ph.D. in Geographic Information Science from Ohio State University. To learn more about his teaching, research, and service, visit his webpage.