USGIF Arthur C. Lundahl - Thomas C. Finnie Lifetime Achievement Award
2023 Lundahl-Finnie Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
USGIF is pleased to announce the Honorable Gilman Louie as the 2023 Arthur C. Lundahl—Thomas C. Finnie Lifetime Achievement Award. USGIF will present him with the award in recognition of his groundbreaking role in bridging the gap between U.S. intelligence agencies and the commercial technology sector.
With more than 30 years of national security and investment experience, Louie served as an early CEO of In-Q-Tel—the pioneering technology investment firm funded by the CIA—from 1999-2006, as an expert and Special Government Employee to the Defense Innovation Board from 2016-2020, and as a Commissioner on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence from 2018-2021.
As CEO of In-Q-Tel, Louie played a crucial role in identifying and investing in cutting-edge technologies that had the potential to benefit the Intelligence Community. Louie's leadership helped establish In-Q-Tel as a prominent player in the venture capital community, driving technology advancements in service to intelligence and national security.
Under Louie's guidance, In-Q-Tel invested in numerous companies involved in fields such as data analytics, cybersecurity, communications, and more. His work at In-Q-Tel helped foster collaboration between the Intelligence Community and the private sector, encouraging innovation and technology transfer. His expertise in identifying promising technologies and understanding their potential applications in intelligence and national security contexts has contributed to the modernization and effectiveness of the U.S. intelligence apparatus.
“Gilman is one of those rare visionaries that drives those visions into action and results. With that unique combination, Gilman has transformed myriad elements in the IC to increase our holistic understanding and our collective security,” said Robert Cardillo, USGIF Board Chair.
Louie is the CEO of America’s Frontier Fund, Chairman of the Federation of American Scientists, Chairman of the National Intelligence University, and serves on numerous commercial and advisory boards. He is the recipient of the CIA Agency Seal Medallion (2004), CIA Director’s Award (2006), Agency Seal Medallion (2006), and Director of National Intelligence Medallion (2008). Louie received his B.S. in Business Administration from San Francisco State University where he graduated magna cum laude.
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.
