2012 Distinguished Service Award

Presented to: Dr. Todd Walter

Citation: In grateful recognition of his leadership and achievements on behalf of The Institute.

Dr. Walter has served as The Institute of Navigation (ION) president from January 2011 – January 2013. His term of office has been characterized by the diversification and expansion of ION programs. During his term, the ION organized and established the ION’s Military Division. Modeled after the ION Satellite Division, the Military Division furthers the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) capabilities of the U. S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Military formally assumed sole responsibility for the organization and sponsorship of the Joint Navigation Conference. The ION’s newly created Pacific PNT symposium was initiated during his term with the goal of bringing together technical experts and policy leaders to increase global cooperative interoperability among Pacific Rim nations.

Dr. Walter has also used his position to encourage cooperation among other related PNT organizations with goals and objectives similar to those of the ION. This has included continued support for the ION’s partnerships with the IEEE in the co-sponsorship of the IEEE/ION PLANS conference and most recently the ION’s assumption of the Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Systems and Applications Meeting. Additionally, Dr. Walter has represented the ION in several international navigation forums during the past two years, including the Chinese Satellite Navigation Conference, bringing greater recognition and visibility to the Institute.

Prior to his term as president, Todd served on the Satellite Division Executive Committee, ION Executive Committee, and ION Council. He is a past technical program and general chair for several ION conferences including the ION GNSS International Technical Meeting and was a coeditor for the ION’s Red Book Volume VI: Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS). He is an ION Fellow and recipient of the 2008 Thurlow and 2010 Kepler Awards.