Fotheringham, A. Stewart (1954–)

Alexander Stewart Fotheringham is one of the most active researchers in geographic information science. His research includes spatial statistics, exploratory spatial data analysis, spatial interaction modeling, and spatial analysis. He is [Page 1169]one of the codevelopers of geographically weighted regression (GWR).

Fotheringham received his PhD and MA from McMaster University in Canada and his BSc from Aberdeen University, United Kingdom. Since 2004, he has been Science Foundation Ireland Research Professor and director of the National Centre for Geocomputation at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He leads an active research center, which since 2008 includes the Strategic Research in Advanced Geotechnologies group, consisting of researchers from four Irish universities working on four interconnected research strands: sensor integration, spatial algorithms, spatial visualization, and location-based services. Previously, he was professor of quantitative geography at the University of Newcastle, United Kingdom, held positions at several universities in the United States (State University of New York at Buffalo, University of Florida, and Indiana University), and was a member of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis. He is one of the founding editors of Transactions in GIS and an associate editor of Geographical Analysis. He has published numerous books and more than 100 journal articles. He has received numerous awards, including a fellowship from the Center of Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, United States; the PHIAL (Public Health Intelligence Applications Laboratory) Fellowship from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; and a Leverhulme fellowship.

His early work was primarily in spatial interaction modeling. Spatial interaction is defined as movement or communication over space resulting from a decision-making process. This analysis has a wide range of applications, for example, migration modeling, shopping behavior, and commuting. Fotheringham introduced a new type of spatial interaction model, the competing destination model, that linked spatial interaction analysis to spatial information processing.

Subsequently, Fotheringham's research emphasized spatial statistics, and in the mid 1990s, he introduced a new local spatial statistical method, GWR, together with his colleagues Martin Charlton and Chris Brunsdon. GWR is a spatial regression technique that removes the necessity of assuming that spatial processes are the same everywhere and allows local modeling of such processes. Since its introduction, GWR has become one of the standard spatial analysis tools. Fotheringham continues to work on related topics, such as other geographically weighted spatial statistical methods, spatiotemporal extensions, and methodologies for easier interpretation of GWR output. He is also developing interests in spatial data capture technologies and spatial surveillance.