USGIF Arthur C. Lundahl - Thomas C. Finnie Lifetime Achievement Award
Vice Admiral Robert Sharp, USN (Ret.), is the 2025 Arthur C. Lundahl-Thomas C. Finnie Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
Vice Admiral (VADM) Sharp served as the Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), one of the nation’s premier intelligence agencies, from February 2019 until June 2022. As Director, he led a global team of over 14,000 civilian, military, and contractor professionals operating in more than 120 locations worldwide. Under his leadership, NGA delivered world-class geospatial intelligence to policymakers, military personnel, intelligence professionals, first responders, and international partners, ensuring a decisive advantage in critical missions. VADM Sharp’s military career spans more than 34 years as a Naval Intelligence Officer and as a leader within the Navy’s Information Warfare Community. Read more.
Join us in honoring VADM Sharp at GEOGala, the GEOINT Community's premier black-tie celebration!
Friday, December. 5, 2025 at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner in McLean, VA.
Past Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients
The Arthur C. Lundahl-Thomas C. Finnie Lifetime Achievement Award is presented, upon nomination and vote by the USGIF Board of Directors, to an influential member of the geospatial intelligence community who has dedicated much of his or her life's work to the tradecraft.
This distinguished award recognizes contributions made by both Arthur C. Lundahl and Thomas C. Finnie, and celebrates their accomplishments-in imagery analysis and mapping, respectively-and their legacy within the GEOINT Community.
Arthur C. Lundahl
Art Lundahl is known as the "father of modern imagery analysis and imagery intelligence" for his work as the founder and first director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC). Under Lundahl's leadership, NPIC's role to support the CIA's deputy director of intelligence transformed the center into a national-level component of the Intelligence Community, and demonstrated image intelligence as a prime strategic and tactical resource worldwide.
Thomas C. Finnie
Thomas C. Finnie's career with the U.S. government began in 1937, practicing engineering and surveying with the Department of Agriculture. In 1962, he assumed the position of technical director for the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, and was one of the initial eight Department of Defense planners who assisted in organizing the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) in 1972. Later, Finnie became DMA's director of management and technology. DMA consolidated the broad disciplines of mapping, charting, and geodesy, and helped to promulgate its evolution to digital geospatial information. Finnie was one of the primary architects of DMA's evolution to a digital era.