On the initiative of Dr. W. Schermerhorn, the board of the ITC Foundation decided on September 26, 1961 to set aside money for a periodic award in memory of Otto von Gruber (1884-1942). In 2015, responsibility for the award was transferred to the Dutch Center for Geodesy and Geoinformatics (NCG).
The award will take place in accordance with the amended regulations, approved by the board of the NCG and the Council of The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS).
The prize is awarded every four years to the author of a meritorious article in the field of photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences. The first ceremony took place in 1964.
Regulations Otto von Gruber Award
2022 – Chenglu Wen (China)
2020 – not awarded
2016 – Wai Yeung Yan (Canada)
2012 – Jan-Henrik Haunert (Germany)
2008 – M. Butenuth (Germany)
2004 – S. Heuel (Switzerland)
2000 – H. Mayer (Germany) and M.G. Vosselman (The Netherlands)
1996 – H.G. Maas (Switzerland)
1992 – C. Heipke (Germany)
1988 – P. Curran (United Kingdom)
1980 – A. Gruen (USA)
1976 – F. Leberl (Austria)
1972 – H. Ebner en J. Hoehle (West-Germany)
1964 – F. Ackermann (West-Germany)
Otto von Gruber (1884-1942), born in Salzburg, made important contributions in his scientific and practical career to the development of (stereo)photogrammetry and photogrammetric instruments.
Von Gruber spent a large part of his career as a scientific employee and head of the Imaging Equipment and Geodetic Instruments departments at Carl Zeiss in Jena. He developed successful practical applications, worked on theoretical development and organized training for his employees.
Von Gruber studied mathematics and physics at the University of Berlin and received his PhD from the Technical University of Munich in 1911. In 1913 he became a surveyor at Stereographik-Wien, one of the first companies to specialize in stereophotogrammetry. In 1919 he joined Zeiss. In addition, from 1920 onwards he was a lecturer in applied mathematics for several years, in particular photogrammetry and higher geodesy, at the Technical University of Munich. Between 1926 and 1930 he held a chair at the Technical University of Stuttgart. then he returned to Zeiss. In 1930, a standard work on photogrammetry was published under his editorship.