George Mason University’s Chaowei Yang Receives 2025 Carolyn Merry Mentoring Award from UCGIS
The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) has announced Chaowei (Phil) Yang, Professor of Geography and Geoinformation Science at George Mason University, as the recipient of the 2025 Carolyn Merry Mentoring Award. The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional mentoring abilities and practices within the GIScience community.
A pioneer in GIS research, Yang has advanced the discipline from a computing perspective, introducing key concepts such as geospatial cyberinfrastructure, spatial cloud computing, spatiotemporal computing, and most recently, geospatial digital twins. Yet, some of his most significant contributions lay in his mentorship.
“"As an advisor, Dr. Yang is the best one any student could ask for. He has a unique, versatile mentoring style to facilitate students from different backgrounds to explore their maximum potential. He is a passionate, encouraging, and hands-on advisor when it comes to engaging students according to their academic stages and interests."
Yang’s mentorship record spans more than 25 years at George Mason University, where he has guided hundreds of students and postdoctoral fellows in GIScience and computing. According to his nomination letter, his influence has been profound and far-reaching.
"Being a first-generation student, I experienced firsthand how transformative great mentorship can be,” Yang said of his commitment to mentorship. “The support from my advisors and friends broadened my career and changed my life, inspiring me to dedicate myself to mentoring my students in the same way."
Yang begins mentoring early, participating in George Mason’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program where high school students work one-on-one with faculty researchers at George Mason using state-of-the-art technology across many disciplines.
One former mentee, who now attends Harvard University, noted Yang as her most important mentor in her early science career, which includes being named among the “nation’s Top 300 Teen Scientists for Achievements in STEM Innovation and Leadership" in the Regeneron Science Talent Search.
Yang’s impactful mentorship also extends globally as a founding member of the Board of Directors for STEM for Development, an organization which has provided training and mentorship to more than 4,000 students from developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Yang also led a national team of students in data collection and analysis efforts, producing datasets that have been downloaded more than two million times by researchers in more than 150 countries.
“Dr. Yang’s passion for education, care for students, and his unique mentoring style form a legacy in GIScience that is being passed on to future generations in advancing GIScience. His successful mentorship has set up a standard of excellence for us to follow. I believe he deserves, more than anyone else, the mentorship award.”
The award is named in honor of Carolyn Merry, professor emerita of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering at The Ohio State University and a former UCGIS President, who was widely admired for her leadership, mentorship, and dedication to nurturing junior scholars.
He was formally recognized at the UCGIS Anniversary Dinner in June 2025 during the UCGIS Symposium in Laramie, Wyoming.
