6 UA MS-GIST students win Tony Gonzales Scholarships

6 UA MS-GIST students win Tony Gonzales Scholarships.   The Tony Gonzales Scholarship was endowed from proceeds of the 2001 Southwest User Group (SWUG) Conference held in Tucson in the Fall of 2001. It has since been supplemented with additional funds from corporate and individual sponsors and from proceeds generated by the Arizona Chapter of GITA. The School of Geography and Development is pleased to recognize the 2013 winners of the Tony Gonzales Scholarship:
 
Brittany McKnight 
Liz D’Arcy
Marla Darlene Kostuk
Michele Tartaglia
Balaji Viswanathan
Jakeb Prickett
Vernon Dempsey
 
The scholarship includes a full three-day registration, meals and lodging at the Prescott Resort and Conference Center for the annual Arizona Geographic Information Council 2013 conference.
Until his death in April of 2001, Tony Gonzales was the GIS Manager for the Arizona Department of Transportation. He was a valued member of the Arizona GIS community and committed to the advancement of GIS and GIS education throughout the State. In memory of Tony, scholarships are awarded each year at the statewide AGIC conference to Arizona GIS students whose work best promotes GIS or GIS education in Arizona.
Tony Gonzales was a key figure in the development of GIS at the Arizona Department of Transportation. His enthusiasm for his work was exemplified in all that he did, from teaching ArcView GIS courses to serving on many advisory committees, including AGIC. Tony suffered from a condition known as neurofibromatosis. More information about NF can be found through the National NF Foundation.