Gold Medal (RGS)

Founder's Medal awarded to Kenneth Mason (1927)

The Gold Medal presented by the Royal Geographical Society consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". Royal approval is required before an award can be made.

The awards originated as an annual gift of fifty guineas from King William IV, first made in 1831, "to constitute a premium for the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". The Royal Geographical Society decided in 1839 to change this monetary award into the two gold medals.

Recipients have included the notable geographers David Livingstone (1855), Nain Singh Rawat (1877), Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen (1878), Alfred Russel Wallace (1892) and William Woodville Rockhill (1893), to more recent winners including Professor William Morris Davis (1919), Sir Halford John Mackinder (1945), Professor Richard Chorley (1987) and Professor David Harvey (1995).

Recipients (1970 onwards)

Date	Founder's Medal	Contribution	Patron's Medal	Contribution
2015	Professor Michael Batty	for development and promotion of the geographical science of cities	Paul Theroux	for the encouragement of geographical discovery through travel writing
2014	Professor Geoffrey Boulton	for the development and promotion of glaciology	Hans Rosling	for the encouragement and development of the public understanding of geographical data and influencing decision makers across the world
2013	Professor Keith Richards	for the encouragement and development of physical geography and fluvial geomorphology	Michael Palin	for the promotion of geography and geographical education
2012	Professor Charles Withers	for the encouragement and development of historical and cultural geography	Alastair Fothergill	for promoting globally the understanding of the world’s environments
2011	Professor David Livingstone	for the encouragement and promotion of historical geography	Dr Sylvia Earle	for the encouragement, development and promotion of ocean science and exploration
2010	Professor Diana Liverman	encouraging, developing and promoting understanding of the human dimensions of climate change	Jack Dangermond	promoting geographical science through the development of Geographical Information Systems
2009	Dr Alan Baker	contributions to historical geography	Professor Lord Nicholas Stern	for contributions to climate change policy
2008	Professor Julian Dowdeswell	encouragement, development and promotion of glaciology	Professor Jesse Walker	encouragement, development and promotion of coastal geomorphology
2007	Professor Roger Barry	international leadership of research on climate and climate change	Professor Paul Curran	international development of geographical science through remote sensing and Earth observation
2006	Professor Derek Gregory	international leadership of research in human geography and social theory	Professor Jack Ives	role internationally in establishing the global importance of mountain regions
2005	Professor Sir Nicholas Shackleton	research on Quaternary palaeoclimatology	Professor Jean Malaurie	lifelong study of the Arctic and its peoples
2004	Professor Leszek Starkel	advancing international understanding of palaeohydrology and geomorphology	Sydney Possuelo	contributions to Brazilian people’s rights and explorations in Amazonia
2003	Professor Michael Frank Goodchild	contributions to geographical information science	Harish Kapadia	contributions to geographical discovery and mountaineering in the Himalayas
2002	Bruno Messerli	mountain research and the public awareness of mountain issues	Dr David Keeble	advancing knowledge in economic and industrial geography
2001	Professor William Graf	research on dryland river processes, and the interactions of science and public policy	Reinhold Messner	mountaineering and mountain regions
2000	Professor Brian Robson	urban geography and geographical perspectives to urban policy	Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO	promoting the understanding of global environmental issues in governmental and wider public arena
1999	Professor Mike Kirkby	development of processed-based and modelling approaches in geomorphology	Doug Scott, CBE	mountaineering and the knowledge of mountain regions
1998	Prof. Robert Bennett		David Drewry
1997	Sir Tony Wrigley		David Rhind
1996	Prof. John Woods		John Thornes
1995	The Earl of Cranbrook		David Harvey
1994	Ronald Urwick Cooke		Ghillean Prance
1993	Kenneth Gregory		John Blashford-Snell
1992	Alan Wilson		Martin Holdgate
1991	Andrew Goudie		Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad
1990	John Hemming		Richard Leakey
1989	Monica Kristensen		Keith Clayton
1988	Peter Hall		Nigel de Northrop Winser
1987	Anthony Laughton		Richard J Chorley
1986	Timothy Severin		Peter Haggett
1985	David Attenborough		Walter Smith
1984	Ranulph Fiennes		Pierre Gourou
1983	Peter Scott		Commander John Young, NASA
1982	Michael Ward		Douglas Warren
1981	Keith J Miller		Valter Schytt
1980	William R Mead		Preston James
1979	David Stoddart	For contributions to geomorphology, the study of coral reefs and the history of academic Geography	Robin Hanbury-Tenison	For leadership of scientific expeditions, including the Mulu Expedition, and for his work on behalf of primitive peoples
1978	Major-General R. Brown	For services to the science of map-making	Miezyslaw Klirnaszewski	For his contributions to geomorphology and international understanding in Geography
1977	Michael Wise	For economic Geography, and for his contributions to international understanding in geographical teaching	Kenneth Hare	For discoveries in Arctic Geography
1976	Brian B. Roberts	For Polar exploration, and for contributions to Antarctic research and political negotiation	Sir Edmund Irving	For services as Hydrographer of the Navy and for his encouragement of exploration
1975	Sir Laurence Kirwan	For contributions to the geographical history of the Nubian Nile valley and Eastern Africa, and for services to exploration	Joachim P. Kuettner	For explorations of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans
1974	Christian J. S. Bonington	For mountain explorations	Gordon de Q. Robin	For polar research and exploration
1973	Norman L. Falcon	Leader, the RGS’s Musandam [North Oman] Expedition. For contributions to the geographical history of the Persian Gulf region	Edgar H. Thompson	Professor of photogrammetry and surveying, University College London
1972	George S. Ritchie	For hydrographical charting and oceanographical exploration	Michael D. Gwynne	Leader, the RGS’s South Turkana (Kenya] Expedition
1971	Sir George Deacon	For oceanographical research and exploration	Charles Swithinbank	For glaciological research and exploration
1970	Walter William Herbert	For Arctic and Antarctic exploration and surveys	Haroun Tazieff	For volcanological research and exploration

Notable recipients (1832–1970)

Date	Founder's Medal	Contribution	Patron's Medal	Contribution
1965	Ernest F. Rootes	For Polar exploration and research, with special reference to the Canadian Arctic	Lester C. King	For geomorphological exploration in the Southern Hemisphere
1964	L. S. B. Leakey	For palaeographical exploration and discoveries in East Africa	Thor Heyerdahl	For geographical explorations in the South Pacific Ocean
1963	Jacques-Yves Cousteau	For underwater exploration and research	Albert P. Crary	For Antarctic research and exploration
1958	Paul A. Siple	For contributions to Antarctic exploration and research	Sir Edmund Hillary	For Antarctic and Himalayan exploration
1957	Ardito Desio	For geographical exploration and surveys in the Himalayas	Sir George Binney	For contributions to Arctic exploration
1954	Sir John Hunt	Leader of the British Mount Everest Expedition	Neil A. Mackintosh	For research and exploration in the Southern Ocean
1951	Vivian E. Fuchs	For his contributions to Antarctic exploration and his research as leader of the survey 1948-50	Donald Thomson	For geographical exploration and studies in Arnhem land
1948	Wilfred Thesiger	For exploration of Arabian deserts.	Thomas Henry Manning	For exploration and survey work in the Arctic
1938	John Rymill	For the valuable scientific work of his British Grahamland Expedition	Eric Shipton	For his most distinguished record of mountain climbing
1931	Bertram Thomas	For geographical work in Arabia and his successful crossing of the Rub al Khali	Richard E. Byrd, USN	For his expedition to the Antarctic ... and for his flights over both North and South Poles.
1925	Charles G. Bruce	For lifelong geographical work in the exploration of the Himalaya … and his leadership of the Mount Everest Expedition of 1922	A. F. R. Wollaston	For his journeys in Central Africa and Dutch New Guinea
1918	Gertrude Bell	For her important explorations and travels in Asia Minor, Syria, Arabia and on the Euphrates	Commandant Jean Tilho	For his long-continued surveys and explorations in Northern Africa
1916	Colonel Percy H. Fawcett	For his contributions to the mapping of South America	Captain F. M. Bailey	For explorations
1910	Colonel H. H. Godwin-Austen	For geographical discoveries and surveys along the North-eastern frontier of India, especially his pioneer exploring in the Karakoram	William Spiers Bruce	For explorations in the Arctic and Antarctic
1907	Francisco Moreno	For extensive explorations in the Patagonian Andes	Captain Roald Amundsen	For his daring voyage for the purposes of research in the region of the North Magnetic Pole, and for his first accomplishment by any vessel of the famous North-West Passage
1902	General Sir Frederick Lugard	For persistent attention to African Geography	Major Percy Molesworth Sykes	For journeys in Persia and for the support given by him to native explorers
1898	Sven Hedin	For important exploring work in Central Asia	Lieutenant Robert E. Peary, USN	For explorations in Northern Greenland, and especially for discovering the northern termination of the Greenland ice
1897	P. Semenoff	For his long-continued efforts in promoting Russian exploration in Central Asia	George Mercer Dawson	For exploration in the North West Territories and Alaska
1893	Frederick Selous	In recognition of twenty years’ exploration and surveys in South Africa	William Woodville Rockhill	For his travels and explorations in Western China and Tibet
1892	Alfred Russel Wallace	The well-known naturalist and traveller and co-discoverer with Charles Darwin of the theory of natural selection, in recognition of the high geographical value of his great works	Edward Whymper	For his route-map and detailed survey among the Great Andes of the Equator
1891	Sir James Hector	For investigations pursued as Naturalist to the Palliser expedition	Fridtjof Nansen	For having been first to cross the inland ice of Greenland ... as well as for his qualities as a scientific geographer
1885	Joseph Thomson	For his zeal, promptitude and success during two expeditions into East Central Africa	H. E. O’Neill	For his 13 journeys of exploration along the coast and into the interior of Mozambique
1884	A. R. Colquhoun	For his journey from Canton to the Irrawadi	Dr. Julius von Haast	For his extensive explorations in the Southern Island of New Zealand
1883	Sir Joseph Hooker	For eminent services to scientific geography	E. Colborne Baber	For scientific works during his many exploratory journeys in the interior of China
1882	Dr. Gustav Nachtigal	For his journeys through the Eastern Sahara	Sir John Kirk	For unremitting services to Geography, as a naturalist, as second-in-command to Dr. Livingstone, and as H.M.Consul-General at Zanzibar
1881	Major Serpa Pinto	For his journey across Africa ... during which he explored 500 miles of new country	Benjamin Leigh Smith	For important discoveries along the coast of Franz-Josef Land
1880	Lieutenant A. Louis Palander	For his services in connection with the Swedish Arctic Expeditions in the Vega	Ernest Giles	For his explorations and surveys in Australia
1879	Colonel N. Prejevalsky	For successive expeditions and route-surveys in Mongolia and the high plateau of Northern Tibet	Captain N. W. J. Gill	For important work along the Northern frontier of Persia
1878	Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen	For his extensive travels and scientific explorations in China	Captain Henry Trotter	For services to Geography which resulted in the connection of the Trigonometrical Survey of India with Russian Surveys from Siberia
1877	Captain Sir George Nares	For having commanded the Arctic Expedition of 1875/6, during which ships and sledge parties reached a higher Northern latitude than had previously been attained	Pundit Nain Singh	For his great journeys and surveys in Tibet and along the Upper Brahmaputra, during which he determined the position of Lhasa and added largely to our knowledge of the map of Asia
1876	Lieutenant Verney Lovett Cameron	For his journey across Africa from Zanzibar to Benguela, and his survey of Lake Tanganyika	John Forrest	For his numerous successful explorations in Western Australia
1875	Lieutenant Karl Weyprecht	For his enterprise and ability in command of expeditions to Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla	Lieutenant Julius Payer	For explorations and discoveries in the Arctic regions
1874	Dr. Georg Schweinfurth	For his explorations in Africa	Colonel P. Egerton Warburton	For his successful journey across the previously unknown western interior of Australia
1873	Ney Elias	For his enterprise and ability in surveying the course of the Yellow River, and for his journey through Western Mongolia	Henry Morton Stanley	For his Relief of Livingstone, and for bringing his valuable journal and papers to England
1872	Colonel Henry Yule	For eminent services to geography	Robert B. Shaw	For journeys in Eastern Turkistan, and for his extensive astronomical and hypsometrical observations
1871	Sir Roderick Murchison	Who for 40 years watched over the (Royal Geographical) Society with more than paternal solicitude, and has at length placed it among the foremost of our scientific societies	A. Keith Johnson	For distinguished services in the promotion of physical geography
1870	George W. Hayward	For his journey into Eastern Turkistan, and for reaching the Pamir Steppe	Lieutenant Francis Garnier	For his extensive surveys ... from Cambodia to the Yangtze-kiang … and for bringing his expedition to safety after the death of his chief
1869	Professor Baron A. E. Nordenskiöld	For designing and carrying out the Swedish expeditions to Spitzbergen … whereby great additions have been made to our acquitance with zoology, botany, geology and meteorology	Mrs. Mary Somerville	Who throughout her very long life has been eminently distinguished by her proficiency in those branches of science which form the basis of Physical Geography
1868	Dr. Augustus Petermann	For his important services as a Writer and Cartographer	Gerhard Rohlfs	For his extensive travels in the interior of Northern Africa … and especially for his traverse of the continent from Tripoli to Lagos
1867	Admiral Alexis Boutakoff	For being first to launch and navigate ships in the Sea of Aral ... and for his survey of the mouths of the Oxus	Dr. Isaac Hayes	For his expedition towards the open Polar Sea
1866	Dr. Thomas Thomson	For his researches in the Western Himalayas and Tibet	William Chandless	For his Survey of the River Purus in South America
1865	Captain T. G. Montgomerie	For his great trigonometrical journey from the plains of the Punjab to the Karakoram Range	Samuel Baker	For his vigorous explorations in the interior of Africa
1864	Captain J. A. Grant	For his journey across Eastern Equatorial Africa with Captain Speke	Baron Carl von der Decken	For his geographical surveys of Kilimandjaro
1863	Francis Thomas Gregory	For successful explorations in Western Australia	John Arrowsmith	For the very important services (in cartography) he has rendered to geographical science
1862	Robert O'Hara Burke	In remembrance of that gallant explorer who with his companion Wills, perished after having traversed the continent of Australia	Captain Thomas Blakiston	For his survey of the Yangtze-kiang
1861	John Hanning Speke	For his eminent geographical discoveries in Africa, and especially his discovery of the great lake Victoria Nyanza	John McDouall Stuart	For very remarkable explorations in the interior of Australia
1860	Lady Franklin	For self-sacrificing perseverance in sending out expeditions to ascertain the fate of her husband	Captain Sir F. L. McClintock	For the skill and fortitude displayed by him and his companion in their search for records of the lost [Franklin] expedition and for valuable coast surveys
1859	Richard Francis Burton	For his various exploratory enterprises, and especially for his perilous expedition with Captain. J. H. Speke to the great lakes in Eastern Africa	John Palliser	for the valuable results of his explorations in the Rocky Mountains of North America
1858	Captain Richard Collinson	For discoveries in the Arctic Regions	Professor Alexander Bache	For extensive and accurate surveys of America
1857	Augustus C. Gregory	For extensive and important explorations in Western and Northern Australia	Colonel Andrew Scott Waugh	For geodetical operations, as remarkable for their extent as for their accuracy, whereby [India] has been covered by triangulation
1856	Elisha Kent Kane	For services and discoveries in the Polar Regions during the American Expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin	Heinrich Barth	For his extensive explorations in Central Africa, his excursions about Lake Chad and his perilous journey to Timbuctu
1855	David Livingstone	For his recent explorations in Africa	Charles John Andersson	For travels in South Western Africa
1854	Admiral William Smyth	For his valuable Maritime Surveys in the Mediterranean	Captain Robert McClure	For his remarkable exertions ... in navigating his ship through the ice of the Polar Seas, and for his discovery of the North West Passage
1853	Francis Galton	For fitting out and conducting an expedition to explore the centre of Southern Africa	Commander E. A. Inglefield	For his enterprising survey of the coasts of Baffin Bay, Smith Sound and Lancaster Sound
1852	Dr. John Rae	For his survey of Boothia under most severe privations ... and for his very important contributions to the Geography of the Arctic	Captain Henry Strachey	For extensive explorations and surveys in Western Tibet
1851	Dr. George Wallin	For his interesting and important travels in Arabia	Thomas Brunner	For meritorious labours in exploring the Middle Island (South Island) of New Zealand
1850	John Charles Frémont of the U.S. Topographical Engineers	For his important geographical labours in the far West of the American Continent	Chronometer Watch presented to Rev. David Livingstone	For his journey to the great lake of Ngami
1849	Austen Henry Layard	For important contributions to Asiatic Geography, interesting researches in Mesopotamia, and for his discovery of the remains of Nineveh	Baron Charles von Hugel	For his enterprising exploration of Cashmere (Kashmir)
1848	Sir James Brooke	For his expedition to Borneo, and the zeal he has shown in promoting geographical discovery	Captain Charles Wilkes, USN	For the talent and perseverance he displayed in a voyage in the Antarctic regions ... and for splendid scientific work
1847	Charles Sturt	For explorations in Australia, and especially for his journey fixing the limit of Lake Torrens and penetrating into the heart of the continent to lat. 24° 30'S, long. 138° 0'E	Ludwig Leichhardt	For explorations in Australia, especially for his journey from Moreton Bay to Port Essington.
1846	Count P. E. de Strzelecki	For exploration in the south eastern portion of Australia	Professor A. von Middendorff	For explorations in Northern and Eastern Siberia
1845	Dr. Charles Beke	For his exploration in Abyssinia	Professor Carl Ritter	For his important geographical labours
1844	W. J. Hamilton	For valuable researches in Asia Minor	Professor Adolph Erman	For important geographical labours in Siberia and Kamstchatka
1843	Edward John Eyre	For his enterprising and extensive explorations in Australia, under circumstances of peculiar difficulty	Lieut. John Frederick A. Symonds	For his triangulation over Palestine and for his determination of the difference between the level of the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea
1842	Sir James Clark Ross	For his brilliant achievement at the South Pole, to within less than 12° of which he safely navigated his vessels, discovering a great Antarctic continent	Rev. Dr. Edward Robinson	For his valuable work Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia
1841	Lieutenant H. Raper	For excellent work on Practical Navigation and Nautical Astronomy	Lieutenant John Wood	For his journey to the source of the Oxus and for valuable labours on the Indus
1840	Henry Rawlinson	For researches in Persian Guayana	Robert H. Schomburgk	For his perseverance and success in exploring the territory and investigating the resources of British Guyana
1839	Thomas Simpson	For tracing the hitherto unexplored coast of North America	Dr. Edward Rüppell	For his travels and researches in Nubia, Arabia and Abyssinia
1838	Colonel Francis Rawdon Chesney	For valuable materials in comparative and physical geography in Syria, Mesopotamia and the delta of Susiana
1837	Captain Robert Fitzroy	For his survey of the coasts of South America, from the Rio de la Plata to Guayaquil in Peru
1836	Captain Sir George Back	For his recent discoveries in the Arctic, and his memorable journey down the Great Fish River
1835	Sir Alexander Burnes	For his remarkable and important journeys through Persia
1834	Captain Sir John Ross	For his discovery of Boothia Felix and King William Land and for his famous sojourn of four winters in the Arctic
1833	John Biscoe	For his discovery of Graham’s Land and Enderby’s Land in the Antarctic
1832	Richard Lander	For important services in determining the course and termination of the Niger	First award

External links

• List of Past Gold Medal Winners