Daniel A. Griffith

Daniel Alva Griffith (born November 15, 1948) is an American geographer, spatial statistician, and geographic information scientist (GIScientist). He is known for his contributions to quantitative geography and spatial statistics, particularly for developing the Moran eigenvector spatial filtering (MESF) technique and introducing the sui-random variables model, both of which address spatial autocorrelation in regression modeling.^[1][2] His work has applications in geography, economics, epidemiology, environmental sciences, and other disciplines.

Dr. Daniel A. Griffith
Born	(1948-11-15) November 15, 1948 (age 76) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	Indiana University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, Pennsylvania State University
Known for	Moran eigenvector spatial filtering (MESF), Sui-random variables model
Awards	Guggenheim Fellowship (2001) Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow of the American Statistical Association Fellow of the American Association of Geographers Fellow of the Regional Science Association International Fellow of the Spatial Econometrics Association Jean Paelinck Award (2021) Walter Isard Award (2024) ISARA Peter Burrough Medal ISARA Founder’s Medal AAG Nystrom Dissertation Award Fulbright Fellowships UCGIS Research Award UCGIS Fellowship Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award
Scientific career
Fields	Geography, Spatial statistics, Geographic information science
Institutions	University of Texas at Dallas, University of Miami, Syracuse University, University at Buffalo, Toronto Metropolitan University

Griffith is Ashbel Smith Professor Emeritus of Geospatial Information Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas.^[3] Since 2021, bibliometric rankings such as Research.com and ScholarGPS have placed him among the top 0.05% of global scholars in geography, with one ranking listing him as the top spatial analyst worldwide.^[4][5]

Early life and education

Griffith was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised in Westmoreland County. He earned a B.S. in mathematics education and an M.A. in geography from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.^[6] He completed a Ph.D. in geography at the University of Toronto, followed by an M.S. in statistics at Pennsylvania State University.^[3]

Academic career

Griffith has held faculty positions at Toronto Metropolitan University, the University at Buffalo, Syracuse University, the University of Miami, and the University of Texas at Dallas, where he was Ashbel Smith Professor and later became professor emeritus.^[3] He also held courtesy appointments at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the University of Alberta, and the University of Central Florida.

He has been a visiting scholar at institutions including the University of Cambridge, the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, and Wuhan University.^[7]

From 2008 to 2014 he served as editor of Geographical Analysis.^[8][9]

Research and contributions

Griffith’s research focuses on methods to address spatial autocorrelation, a statistical phenomenon in which nearby values are correlated more than expected by chance. His development of the Moran eigenvector spatial filtering (MESF) approach has been widely cited and applied …^[10] He also introduced the sui-random variables model as a framework for handling self-correlated data.^[11]

His methods have been implemented in R, MATLAB, SAS, and ArcGIS. Dedicated tools include ESFtool, a .NET-based regression tool,^[12] and SAAR, an ArcGIS-integrated software with R.^[13]

In applied work, Griffith’s spatial analyses of pediatric blood-lead levels in Syracuse, New York, using Onondaga County Health Department data, demonstrated neighborhood-level clustering of elevated lead exposure and contributed to public health research on lead-poisoning prevention and remediation.^[14]

Honors and recognition

Griffith has received numerous fellowships and awards, including:

• Guggenheim Fellowship (2001)^[15]
• Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (2017)^[16]
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011)^[17]
• Fellow, American Statistical Association (2015)^[18]
• Fellow, American Association of Geographers (2019)^[19]
• Fellow, Regional Science Association International (2009)^[20]
• Fellow, Spatial Econometrics Association^[21]
• Fellow, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS)^[22]
• Fellow, New York Academy of Sciences^[23]
• Jean Paelinck Award, Regional Science Association International (2021)^[24]
• Walter Isard Award, North American Regional Science Council (2024)^[25]
• Peter Burrough Medal (International Spatial Accuracy Research Association)^[26]
• Founder’s Medal (ISARA)^[27]
• AAG Nystrom Dissertation Award^[28]
• UCGIS Research Award^[29]
• AAG Honors for research and scholarship^[30]
• Fulbright Fellowships (multiple appointments)^[31]
• Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award (2017)^[32]

Selected publications

• Griffith, Daniel A. (1987). Spatial Autocorrelation: A Primer. Association of American Geographers. ISBN 0892911972.
• Anselin, Luc; Griffith, Daniel A. (1988). "Do spatial effects really matter in regression analysis?". Papers of the Regional Science Association. 65 (1): 11–34. doi:10.1111/j.1435-5597.1988.tb01155.x.
• Griffith, Daniel A. (2003). Spatial Autocorrelation and Spatial Filtering: Gaining Understanding Through Theory and Scientific Visualization. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-24806-4. ISBN 9783540248064.
• Griffith, Daniel A.; Peres-Neto, Pedro R. (2006). "Spatial modeling in ecology: The flexibility of eigenfunction spatial analyses". Ecology. 87 (10): 2603–2613. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[2603:SMIETF]2.0.CO;2.
• Griffith, Daniel A.; Li, Bin (2025). Spatial Autocorrelation: A Fundamental Property of Geospatial Phenomena. Elsevier.

See also

• Spatial autocorrelation
• Moran's I
• Spatial econometrics
• Geographic information science

External links

• ORCID
• University of Texas at Dallas profile
• Google Scholar
• Daniel Griffith – ScholarGPS Profile