Getis, Arthur (1934-)

Arthur Getis is Distinguished Professor of Geography, Emeritus, at San Diego State University. He received his BS and MS degrees at the Pennsylvania State University and completed his PhD in geography at the University of Washington in 1961. Getis was a student of William Garrison and, together with his fellow graduate students, took part in the “quantitative revolution” in geography. He is widely known across disciplines for his research in spatial statistics and has made significant contributions in all aspects of academic geography.

Getis's early work analyzed the patterns of economic activity using map transformations and pattern analysis techniques borrowed from ecology. His manuscript titled “Temporal Land Use Pattern Analysis With the Use of Nearest Neighbor and Quadrat Methods” appeared as the first discussion paper in the Michigan Inter-University Community of Mathematical Geographers (MICMOG) series in 1963. The paper reached a wider geography audience a year later, when it was reprinted in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers. He has since published scores of scholarly articles in the top journals of the field. Two books, coauthored with Barry Boots, examine the connections between process and spatial pattern and demonstrate pattern analysis techniques.

Much of Getis's recent work has focused on the development of methods for spatial analysis and spatial econometrics. He has been influential in advancing local methods of spatial analysis, and his most often cited research is the development of local spatial clustering statistics with J. Keith Ord. He has also employed local spatial statistics to account for and incorporate spatial dependence in regression analysis. The subject matter of his work has shifted to understanding and improving the health of populations. He is currently conducting research on dengue fever transmission, fertility, and women's health in developing regions.

Getis has received several awards honoring his scholarship, including the Walter Isard Award from the North American Regional Science Association and Distinguished Scholarship Honors from the Association of American Geographers. He held the Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation Endowed Chair of Geographical Studies at San Diego State University from 1992 to 2004.

Getis has worked to advance geographic education at all levels. He has written several popular textbooks, including Introduction to Geography, coauthored with Judith Getis and Jerome Fellmann, which is now in its 12th edition. He has taught at a number of prestigious universities and in several interdisciplinary workshops. His graduate advisees include Barry Boots of Wilfrid Laurier University, Kingsley Haynes of George Mason University, and Marc Armstrong of the University of Iowa.

Getis also has an extensive record of service at departments, universities, and professional organizations. Past leadership roles include head of the department of geography and director of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Illinois. He has served as president of both the Western Regional Science Association and the University Consortium for Geographical Information Sciences. He is a founding editor of the Journal of Geographical Systems, together with Manfred Fischer.