Richard Church has been elected as a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Rick has been a major presence in regional science since presenting one of his first conference papers at the 1973 meetings of the North American Regional Science Council held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA (November 9-11, 1973). This paper was subsequently published in Papers of the Regional Science, formerly Papers of the Regional Science Association (Church, R. and C. ReVelle, 1974, “The maximal covering location problem”, Papers of the Regional Science Association 32, 101-118), one of the most highly cited regional science publications. He has made important and sustained academic contributions to regional science, particularly in the areas of location science, spatial optimization, natural resource management and transportation. Reflecting this are a long list of distinctions and awards, including Fellow of the Regional Science Association International (2009), Isard Award for Scholarly Achievement for the North American Regional Science Council (2018), Alonso Memorial Prize for Innovative Work in Regional Science from the North American Regional Science Council (2019) as well as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2009),  Lifetime Achievement Award from the Section on Location Analysis of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (2012) and the UCGIS Research Award (2014), among others. Worth mentioning as well is his important service to regional science, which includes President of the North American Regional Science Council (2015) and President of the Western Regional Science Association (2021-2022).

Congratulations Rick on your election to the National Academy of Sciences, and your continued contributions to regional science!