Honorary Geographer
Deadline: September 15, yearly
Every year the AAG designates an individual as that year's AAG Honorary Geographer as a way of recognizing excellence in research, teaching, or writing on geographic topics by non-geographers.
Nominations should include the complete name and address of the nominee and a concise (500 words maximum) yet specific description of the accomplishments that warrant the nominee's selection as an Honorary Geographer. Biographical and bibliographical information not included in the statement should not exceed six additional pages of text.
Nominations: Digital submissions are encouraged. Please submit complete application in an email attachment to grantsawards@aag.org with Honorary Geographer as the Subject line. Alternately, nominations can be sent to: Association of American Geographers, attn: Honorary Geographer, 1710 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20009-3198.
Honorary Geographers:
2013 Maya Lin
for her impact on the way we look at the world and how we relate to it. AAG was impressed with the influence of her monuments on the world of architecture, and also for the way in which her vision integrates monuments into landscapes in new and dramatic ways.
2012 Saskia Sassen
for her far-reaching impact on the study of globalization and its influence on labor mobiity, global cities, and new technologies, spurring scholars and decision-makers to consider innovative responses to the challenge of sustainable development.
2011 Barry Lopez
for his evocative portrayals of people living in close communication with nature, and for his exemplary works of fiction and nonfiction alike that honor and inspire ideas about geography and landscape.
2010 Nora Volkow 
for her groundbreaking and innovative work on drug addiction, demonstrating a geographic perspective and attention to geographical context, and for her significant influence on geography research and research agendas in the health sciences.
2009 Paul Krugman 
2008 Nobel Laureate in Economics, for his deep and abiding appreciation of a geographic perspective in economics, for his contributions to economic geography, for his exemplary writings that draw from and are inspired by geographic scholarship, and for bringing to bear geographic approaches to international trade theory and strategic trade policy.
2008 Charles Mann 
for his deep and abiding appreciation of a geographic perspective through his exemplary writings that draw from and are inspired by geographic scholarship.
2007 Jeffrey Sachs 
for his deep and abiding appreication of a geographic perspective and through his exemplary global leadership in confronting the challenges of economic development, poverty alleviation, globalization, and enivronmental sustainability.
2006 Barbara Kingsolver 
for her deep and abiding appreciation of the importance of place, culture, and the environment in her creative and inspiring writings.
2005 Stephen Pyne
for his pioneering and geographically-informed scholarship in the cultural ecology of fire and forest management.
2004 J. Keith Ord
for his pioneering work in spatial autocorrelation, in the spatial diffusion of disease, and in the creation of spatially local statistics, and for his collaborations with prominent geographers and co-authorship of prominent texts of major importance to the discipline of geography.
2003 Cynthia Enloe
for her deep and abiding appreciation of geographic perspectives in her analyses of state practices and international politics and for her profound influence on feminist and political geography.
2002 John McPhee
for his appreciation of the importance of places in fostering understanding of the earth and its natural environments, and for his sensitive exposition of the uses people have made of those places.
2001 John E. Gould
for dedicated and effective leadership of the American Geographical Society and for his vigorous efforts to foster appreciation for geography in the wider community.
2000 Calvin Trillin
for humorous writing that is sensitive to localities and cultural environments as exemplified in Travels with Alice and other works.
1999 Herman E. Daly
for the freshness of insight and depth of critical thought he has brought to research and teaching in economics, ecology, and resource use.
1998 Stephen Jay Gould
in recognition of the sensitivity to location, place, and geographical relationships evident in his penetrating and perceptive writing for scientists and the public.
