Kuhn, Werner (1957–)

Werner Kuhn is Professor of Geoinformatics at the University of Münster (Germany) and has been among the most active researchers in geographic information science (GIScience) for many years. Until recently, his main research interest was the semantics of spatial information, which he studies in the context of usability of geospatial data and services. He has developed several ideas and methods, including the algebraic description of semantic properties and their mappings, the derivation of ontologies from texts, and the notion of semantic [Page 1673]reference systems. Apart from this core subject, Werner Kuhn has carried out research in various other fields, such as visualization, engineering of geosoftware, and especially issues related to spatial cognition. Kuhn has produced a long list of internationally respected publications in scientifically leading journals, books, and proceedings.

Kuhn studied geodesy at ETH Zurich and received a diploma in surveying engineering in 1982. At ETH's Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry he received his PhD in 1989, with a thesis on human interaction with geographic information systems (GIS). In 1989, he was a postdoctoral research assistant at the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA), department of surveying engineering, University of Maine. From 1991 to 1996, he held a position as research associate in the department of geoinformation at Vienna University of Technology, Austria. In 1995, he finished his dissertation on the semantics of geospatial information and received the venia docendi in GIScience from the Vienna University of Technology.

Based on his broad experience in an international context, Kuhn became a professor of geoinformatics at the Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Muenster, Germany, in 1996. Since 2003, he has held a full professorship at this institute, which was the first of its kind in Germany and introduced the first curriculum in geoinformatics as an independent subject in Europe in 1999.

Although Kuhn's early work was primarily on topological data structures and user interfaces, he turned increasingly to problems of usability of geoinformation, mainly in relationship with theories of spatial behavior, before refocusing his research group at Münster on the challenge of semantic interoperability. For this purpose, he founded MUSIL (the Muenster Semantic Interoperability Lab) in 2002. Broader areas of interest and scientific contributions are computer languages, thematic mapping, human-computer interaction, metaphors, blendings, and semantic translation.

Kuhn is an initiator of the Conference of Spatial Information Theory (COSIT) meetings, which deal with the theoretical foundations of spatial sciences and geoinformation technology. He works with colleagues who create basic theories and methods to deal with the geometric, topological, and semantic aspects of spatial information—for example, Max Egenhofer, Barry Smith, David Mark, Andrew Frank, and others. Through these collaborations, Kuhn has become one of the main contributors to the theoretical and methodological foundations of geographical information science. Apart from the basic scientific work, he is involved in important developments that concern practical issues of geoinformation. For example, he contributed to different working groups in the Open Geospatial Consortium, served as Technical Director Europe for this organization, and has worked closely with various institutions in public administration and industry. He was also one of the founders of the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE) and has chaired and co-organized important international conferences such as COSIT, GIScience, and AGILE.

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