On 18 June at the SAGE graduation ceremony, Emeritus Professor John Trinder (BSurv UNSW, MSc ITC, PhD UNSW, RegSurv NSW, Hon Member, ISPRS; Hon FSSSI) was made an Honorary Fellow of the university, in recognition of his conspicuous and continued involvement in support of the interests and welfare of the university, and of the photogrammetric and remote sensing community, in Australia and abroad.
John Trinder graduated with a Bachelor of Surveying from the School of Civil Engineering at UNSW in 1962, before pursuing his Master’s degree at the renowned ITC institute in The Netherlands, followed by his PhD at UNSW in 1971. He began his academic career at UNSW as a lecturer in 1965, focusing his teaching on photogrammetry and computer-assisted mapping. In 1974 he became a senior lecturer and in 1978, an associate professor. He became a professor in January 1991, a year after taking up the position as Head of the School of Geomatic Engineering (now merged with the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering).
As an academic, Professor Trinder has provided leadership and inspiration to hundreds of undergraduate and postgraduate students who, in turn, contribute to the surveying and geospatial engineering profession in Australia, in Asia, and around the world. As an Emeritus Professor, he still provides guidance to UNSW PhD students. He is currently supervising three PhD students, and co-supervising five others.
Professor Trinder has made significant contributions to research into the determination of digital elevation models and linear feature extraction from remotely sensed images. With over 160 academic publications, he has materially advanced the state of photogrammetric research and development in Australia and abroad. He has also been deeply involved with professional development and the leadership of professional societies since the early 1970s, leading working groups and commissions in the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) for 12 years from 1972 to 1984. He was ISPRS President from 2000-2004, and in 2008 he was elected as Honorary Member of ISPRS, a position held by only eight people worldwide.
He is a three times winner of the prestigious Grand Trophy of Talbert Abrams Award presented by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Among his honours, he was made an Emeritus Professor of UNSW and an Honorary Professor of the internationally renowned WuhanUniversity, PR China. On 25 November 2004, the Spatial Sciences Institute of Australia presented Professor Trinder with its Award for Excellence and Eminence in Spatial Information (its highest award).
Retiring after 45 years of exemplary and dedicated service to UNSW in June 1999, Professor Trinder has had a long and distinguished career in research, teaching and senior management at UNSW.
