Dr. Roger Frank Tomlinson, OC
17 November 1933 – February 7, 2014

Dr. Roger Tomlinson passed away on February 7 at his winter home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Roger was a visionary geographer hailed worldwide as “the father of GIS,” the computerized Geographic Information System. For his achievements he was recently promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour, for “changing the face of geography as a discipline.”
Roger was born in Cambridge, England, and before migrating to Canada served in the Royal Air Force as a pilot and flying officer. He took several degrees including his Ph.D. from University College London.
He has described how he came to the discovery that brought him international fame. He was working as a photo interpreter on a project to find the most desirable location for a tree plantation in Kenya. He recognized that the then available methods for charting the area were cumbersome, costly, and lengthy. He was struck by a solution – to use computer technology to map an area and thus GIS was born. He was contracted to the Canadian government to develop this technology, its use saving millions of dollars by reducing analysis of survey data from years to weeks. Roger subsequently founded Tomlinson Associates Ltd. of which his wife Lila became administrative secretary. He ultimately was named a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and later received the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. National Geographic magazine awarded him the coveted Alexander Graham Bell award for exceptional contributions to geography. He was extremely honoured to be selected as the inaugural recipient of the Chen Shupeng GIScience Achievement Award. A citizen of the world, he treasured the professional associations and genuine friendships he made around the world. Especially dear to him was his friendship with Jack Dangermond and the esri family. His book, Thinking About GIS is the bible in the field.
Roger was a “gentle giant” of a man standing 6’7” with a ready smile and an engaging manner. He was generous and loyal and will be deeply missed by his family and a wide circle of friends and colleagues.
He is survived by Lila (nee Blanchard), his life partner of 45 years, two sons, Ward (Caroline) and Christopher (Tanya), a daughter Frances (Doug) and four grandchildren, Christian, Benjamin, Ava, and Aaron Roger.