The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) announced Maj. Gen. (Rel.) Robert “Rosie” A. Rosenberg, former director of the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), as the 2017 recipient of the Foundation’s Arthur C. Lundahl-Thomas C. Finnie Lifetime Achievement Award. Rosenberg is the 13th individual to receive this prestigious award and was recognized during USGIF’s GEOINT 2017 Symposium general session.

“Maj. Gen. Rosie Rosenberg is a proven leader never satisfied with the status quo,” said The Honorable Jeffrey K. Harris, chairman of the USGIF Board of Directors. “Rosenberg’s remarkable career reflects his passion for developing and mentoring high caliber professionals and providing them with the technology to be effective agents of change. The board was unanimous in its selection of Rosenberg for the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his decades of substantial contribution to the art and science of geospatial intelligence.”

Rosenberg served 30 years in the U.S. Air Force and was instrumental in the U.S. satellite program. He participated in the initial development, testing, and launches of the Atlas­-Agena reconnaissance satellite systems with the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division, and was the mission planner & targeteer for the GAMBIT reconnaissance satellite program. In other National Reconnaissance Office, (NRO) assignments, he was responsible for developing and acquiring the mission planning and command and control software for the HEXAGON program, and also served as acting director of the NRO staff.

Rosenberg was director of DMA, a predecessor to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, from 1985 to 1987. During his tenure as director, Rosenberg made DMA essential to the success of the nation’s warfare capabilities and guided Phase II of the DMA modernization program to ensure alignment with changing DoD requirements.

“What an unexpected and most humbling honor to be named as the Lundahl-Finnie Lifetime Award Winner at this year’s GEOINT Symposium,” Rosenberg said. “Just to be honored in the name of these two great American patriots-who so significantly contributed to the foundation of GEOINT-is an awesome recognition in my lifetime. It is also an honor to be sharing this moment with my wife, Marge, of 60 years, who made my contributions to our national security possible.”

The Lundahl-Finnie award recipient is nominated and voted upon annually by the USGIF Board of Directors. This distinguished award is named for Arthur C. Lundahl and Thomas C. Finnie, celebrating their accomplishments-in imagery analysis and mapping, respectively-and their legacies within the GEOINT Community. Lundahl is known as the father of modern imagery intelligence and analysis, and was the founding director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center. Finnie served as DMA’s director of management and technology, and was one of the primary architects of the agency’s evolution into the digital era.