A prolific speaker, Larry Ayers has traveled to 30 countries and 40 states to tell audiences about a technological force that is quietly becoming part of life across the globe-Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Mr. Ayers also has testified as an expert witness before Congress on the subject.



The beginnings of the Arlington, Virginia, native's career in GIS and geographical positioning systems (GPS) took place in Blacksburg, where he earned his undergraduate degree in civil engineering in 1954. After leaving Virginia Tech, he joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a research engineer. Working on projects in satellite photogrammetry, he became a part of the team that defined GPS technology.



Mr. Ayers attended Indiana University with a Ford Foundation Education Award and a fellowship from the National Institute of Public Affairs, and he received his Master's in Public Administration in 1966. In the early 1970s, he became Director of Research and Development for the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), an agency of the Department of Defense. He directed the 3,600 employees of the St. Louis DMA Aerospace production plant during the late 1970s, and was Civilian Director of DMA from 1982 to 1987.



President Ronald Reagan presented Mr. Ayers with the Presidential Award for the Distinguished Executive in the Senior Executive Service in 1983 and 1987 for his work in modernizing GIS for national defense weapons and operations. Much of the work involved developing the GIS technology that enables Cruise Missiles and other "smart" weapons to find their chosen targets.



In 1987, Mr. Ayers joined Intergraph Corporation, based in Huntsville, Alabama, with offices in Reston, Virginia. Intergraph develops software and systems for infrastructure operation and design. He has served as Director of International Marketing and as Director of the more than 500 software developers and engineers in the company's Infrastructure Products Division. Currently, he is Executive Vice-President for Infrastructure Programs.



As a speaker, Mr. Ayers addresses "The Role of Geographic Information in Building a Strategy for the Nation." In 1984 he served as President of the American Congress of Surveyors and Mappers, and he has been a member of the Mapping Sciences Committee of the National Academy of Sciences and of the Highway Committee of the National Transportation Research Board.



The National Academy of Public Administration has used Mr. Ayers' GIS expertise on three task forces: the Role of the Federal Government in the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, Geographic Information for the 21st Century, and Legal Limits on Access to and Disclosure of Disaster Information. He also serves on the board of directors of the Open GIS Consortium, comprised of 120 corporations, government agencies and universities working to prepare GIS software and data systems for global service in the future.



GIS World, an international trade magazine, named Larry Ayers "The Most Influential Person in GIS" in 1995. That same year, he received an honorary doctorate from Ferris State University in Michigan.



Mr. Ayers also has been an active Virginia Tech alumnus. He is a former member of the CEE Alumni Advisory Board and a long-standing member of the College of Engineering Committee of 100.



Larry Ayers and his wife, the former Margaret Cox, a 1955 Virginia Tech graduate, reside in Northern Virginia and enjoy their three children and seven grandchildren.