The award is bestowed on individuals whose extraordinary personal contributions have added to the success of GITA. The presentation was made today at the Opening Session of GITA’s Annual Conference 28, being held March 6-9 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

 McDaniel, whose career achievements include the development of Intergraph Corp.’s FRAMME product as well as the first packaged industry approach for gas, electric, and telephone utilities, was a founder of AM/FM International (now GITA) as a nonprofit educational association. In addition to serving on the GITA Board of Directors, McDaniel’s contributions to the association include serving as chair of the GITA’s Executive Symposium as well as the Education and Strategic Planning committees. He was also heavily involved with several of the association’s international projects. In 1994, McDaniel was inducted as a member of the associations’ Honorary Past Presidents’ Advisory Council.

 From the early days of the geospatial information technology (GIT) industry, McDaniel dedicated himself to the mission of promoting integrated GIT applications. “Strategic planning and education for an ever-expanding and technically evolving GITA membership was paramount to this mission,” McDaniel said. “Today, as we see that vision materialize, I am grateful for Intergraph’s support and having had the opportunity to share our industry’s progress with so many dedicated colleagues.”

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 The mission of the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) is to provide excellence in education and information exchange on the use and benefits of geospatial information and technology in business, utility, and government applications worldwide. Visit GITA on the Web at www.gita.org.