Pete Croswell

My name is Pete Croswell and I'm writing from Frankfort, Kentucky. I have a BA degree in Geography (with minor in Math) from the State University of New York (SUNY) Albany and Master's degree from Western Illinois University (Geography/Geology). Those degrees came before anyone was using the term "GIS" but my background in cartography, remote sensing, geomorphology, and computer science gave me a nice foundation to move into the new field of GIS in the late 1970s. I also have a more recently completed (2009) IT systems administration and management certificate from the University of Louisville. After finishing up my Master's program at WIU, I began my career working as an analyst and then manager of an early GIS program in the State of Kentucky (Natural Resources Cabinet). In that role, I got heavily involved in implementing environmental regulatory programs and using computer technology and GIS (pretty crude in the late 1970s) to support many state programs. Since the mid-1980s, I have been a consultant in GIS and IT, getting involved in a large array of needs assessment, design, planning, and project management support work for federal, state, and local governments, utility companies, and other types of public sector and private organizations--including international work in Europe, West Africa, the Caribbean, China, Middle East, and other places. Right now, I am President of my own consulting firm, Croswell-Schulte IT Consultants. I'm pretty active in professional associations, particularly the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) in which I've served on the governing Board, as president, and many other roles including work with URISAÕs GIS Management Institute. I've written quite a few professional papers, special publications, and a few books on IT and GIS topics including the 2009 book, GIS Management Handbook. I'm a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and hold a number of GIS and IT certifications.