Allen Carroll is chief cartographer and executive vice president of National Geographic Maps. As chief cartographer, Carroll presides over the editorial and creative efforts of the Society’s map division, including the renowned supplement maps published in National Geographic magazine, the Seventh Edition Atlas of the World, published in fall 1999, and the National Geographic Map Machine, an innovative world atlas on the Internet. He has been an employee of the National Geographic Society for twenty years, serving in a variety of positions in the map division and the art department of National Geographic Magazine.

As managing director of National Geographic Maps from 1995 through 1998, he presided over the shift of the unit from a division of the Magazine to the Society’s new taxable subsidiary, National Geographic Ventures. During this time NG Maps expanded from its traditional role as service provider to the magazine and book divisions of the Society to a publisher and distributor of map products. With partnerships and acquisitions, the group extended its product lines to include road atlases, road maps, and outdoor recreation maps.

From 1991 to 1995 Carroll was art director of National Geographic Magazine, producing historical, scientific, and informational artwork, and leading an effort to establish a corporate identity program for the Society. Carroll received two gold medals from the Society of Illustrators for his work during this period. He has also served as director of design for the Society’s Cartographic Division (prior to its transition to NG Maps), and as art director of the Society’s Historical Atlas of the United States, a richly-illustrated history of America in maps, pictures and text produced for the Society’s centennial in 1988.

Prior to joining the Society in 1983, Carroll was a free-lance illustrator and designer in Washington, serving clients such as The Washington Post, Smithsonian Institution, Readers Digest, The New Republic, the American Film Institute, and Johns Hopkins University. Self-trained in design, illustration, and cartography, Carroll is a magna cum laude graduate of Connecticut College, and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana.