Dr. Douglas Richardson, Executive Director of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), will visit Korea from August 11 to August 17, 2009 by invitation of the Korea Foundation.

Dr. Richardson, as a geographer, has worked closely with American Indian tribes for years on natural resources, cultural and ecological issues and founded in 1980 GeoResearch, Inc., which achieved international prominence in the field of GIS/GPS (geographic information system / global positioning system). Since his election as Executive Director of AAG in 2003, he has been working for the promotion of geographical research and the application of geography in various fields of society. AAG, established in 1904, currently has nine regional divisions in the United States and 53 specialty groups with more than 10,000 members from around 60 countries worldwide. It also publishes prominent academic periodicals in geography, such as “Annals of the Association of American Geographers” and “The Professional Geographer.”

During his stay in Korea, Dr. Richardson will visit the Northeast Asian History Foundation, the Society for the East Sea and the National Geographic Information Institute to promote understanding of current geographic issues affecting Korea. In order to enhance academic exchanges in geography, he will also meet the Secretary-General and Treasurer of the International Geographical Union (IGU) and Executive Board members of the Korean Geographical Society, and lecture on “Trajectories of Geography: 2000-2009 and Beyond.”

Furthermore, he will have opportunities to see diverse aspects of Korea during his visit by visiting the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), museums and historical sites in Seoul and Gyeongju.