Support

For more information on ways
to give, contact:

Peter Rozga
Office of Institutional Advancement

220 Johnston Hall
101 Pleasant Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Email: rozga001@umn.edu
Phone: 612-624-2848

For other giving options, visit
the U of M Foundation.

You Make Us Great

Cartography and geographic information science have had a long and strong tradition in the Department of Geography, Environment & Society, lead by pioneering University of Minnesota faculty like John Borchert and alumni like Jack Dangermond. Our highly recognized MGIS faculty are among the top in the field. Our program's graduates are the next generation of leaders and mentors in the GIS profession.

Your tax-deductible contribution provides our students with encouragement and financial support. It also helps to maintain a distinguished reputation for the department and the program.

What Your Gift Can Do

Your generous support for the Department of Geography, Environment & Society and our master of geographic information science program is more critical than ever.

In 2014, we launched a fundraising campaign that resulted in the establishment of two funds to support MGIS students: the MGIS Fellowship and the MGIS Annual Fund. The MGIS Fellowship was founded by three MGIS faculty donors who have committed to five years of funding to reach the fund goal of $25,000. Since its establishment, the fellowship fund has received additional contributions from members of the MGIS family.

The MGIS Annual Fund provides more immediate funding as the fellowship continues to grow; the purpose of this fund is to provide current MGIS students with professional development opportunities such as traveling to conferences to give presentations or participate in networking. We are so fortunate to have dedicated and enthusiastic alumni, faculty and friends who are willing to support this fundraising effort.

"Thank you for starting this great initiative. I must admit that a similar fund helped me to travel to San Diego in 2003 to participate and present my research at the ESRI user conference. To attend the ESRI user conference was a great experience and also helped me land a job with an NGO [non-governmental organization] and subsequently with the UN. I am very happy to contribute to this effort and hope that others will do so."

Sanjay Rane (MGIS 2003)
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

We need to ensure the excellence and competitiveness of the MGIS program by attracting bright, goal-oriented students who will become future leaders in the GIS profession. More specifically, your funds can help to support the professional development of our current MGIS students in a number of ways. For example, our Solar Dream Team of MGIS students (led by faculty adviser Len Kne) won the top prize in ESRI's Climate Resilience App Challenge; student funding allowed the majority of team members to attend the 2014 ESRI User Conference to accept the First Place Award and $10,000 prize.

The annual fund has also helped students to participate in the ESRI Student Conference Assistantship and Internship programs, the North American Cartographic Information Society meeting, the UCGIS Symposium, and the Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium annual conference. Additionally, funds have supported student research at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA and at the Kathmandu Living Labs in Nepal. Your contributions help to ensure that future students can participate in important professional development activities such as these.

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