Luc Anselin

Luc Anselin is the Stein-Freiler Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology and the College at the University of Chicago. He serves as Director of the Center for Spatial Data Science and Senior Fellow at NORC, with affiliations in the Department of Sociology and the Committee on Quantitative Research Methods in Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences.

• B.S., Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1975
• M.S., Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1976
• M.A., Cornell University, 1979
• Ph.D., Cornell University, 1980

Anselin is a pioneer in spatial data science, spatial econometrics, and computational social science. His work bridges quantitative geography, regional science, and computer science, with applications in urban studies, economic analysis, and health research.

His recent publications focus on spatial regimes, software ecosystems like GeoDa and PySAL, stigma analysis in public health, and computational methods for urban equity. These reflect interdisciplinary trends in spatial statistical modeling, open-source development, and geospatial policy evaluation.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Fellow, Regional Science Association International (2004)
• Walter Isard Prize (2005)
• William Alonso Memorial Prize (2006)
• National Academy of Sciences (2008)
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011)

Anselin has led major grants and directed institutions like the GeoDa Center for Geospatial Analysis and Computation at Arizona State University. He has mentored interdisciplinary collaborations across sociology, economics, and data science.

His laboratories and teams include the Center for Spatial Data Science at the University of Chicago and the GeoDa Center at Arizona State University, fostering innovation in geospatial computation and open-source spatial analytics.