The Victoria Medal is an award presented by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. It is awarded "for conspicuous merit in research in

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

" and has been given since 1902, in honour of the late

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. Up until then, the society's

Patron's Medal The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal 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 promoti ...

had alternatively been known as the "Victoria Medal", and the new medal resembled its original design.

Past recipients

Recipients include: (See pdf's page 4.) *1902: Ernst Georg Ravenstein, ''for his efforts during 40 years to introduce scientific methods into the cartography of the United Kingdom'' *1903: Sven Hedin, ''for his exploration in Central Asia'' *1905:

John George Bartholomew John George Bartholomew (22 March 1860 – 14 April 1920) was a Scottish cartographer and geographer. As a holder of a royal warrant, he used the title "Cartographer to the King"; for this reason he was sometimes known by the epithet "the P ...

, ''for his efforts to raise the standard of cartography''. *1906:

W. M. Ramsay Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, FBA (15 March 185120 April 1939) was a Scottish archaeologist and New Testament scholar. By his death in 1939 he had become the foremost authority of his day on the history of Asia Minor and a leading scholar in th ...

, ''for his investigation of the Ancient Geography of Asia Minor'' *1909:

Alexander Agassiz Alexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz (December 17, 1835March 27, 1910), son of Louis Agassiz and stepson of Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, was an American scientist and engineer. Biography Agassiz was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and immigrated to ...

, ''for thirty years' work in oceanographical exploration'' *1911:

Henry George Lyons Colonel Sir Henry George Lyons FRS (11 October 1864 – 10 August 1944) was a British geologist and director of the Science Museum in London. Henry Lyons was born in London, the son of General Thomas Lyons. Lyons was educated at Wellingt ...

, ''Egyptian Survey. For his investigations of the River Nile and its basin'' *1912:

George H. Darwin Sir George Howard Darwin, (9 July 1845 – 7 December 1912) was an English barrister and astronomer, the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin. Biography George H. Darwin was born at Down House, Kent, the fifth chil ...

, ''for his investigations on tides and in geodesy''. *1913: Sidney Gerald Burrard ''Indian Survey. For his distinguished contributions to geography and geodesy''. *1915:

Hugh Robert Mill Hugh Robert Mill (28 May 1861 – 5 April 1950) was a British geographer and meteorologist who was influential in the reform of geography teaching, and in the development of meteorology as a science. He was President of the Royal Meteorologic ...

*1917: John Keltie *1919: John Walter Gregory *1920: Harold St. John Loyd Winterbotham *1922:

John F. Baddeley John Frederick Baddeley (July 1854 – 16 February 1940) was a British traveller, writer and journalist, best known by his works on Russia and the Caucasus region. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1902–1940. He was educated ...

*1924:

John Fillmore Hayford John Fillmore Hayford (May 19, 1868 – March 10, 1925) was an eminent United States geodesist. His work involved the study of isostasy and the construction of a reference ellipsoid for approximating the figure of the Earth. The crater Hayford on ...

*1927:

Charles Close Colonel Sir Charles Frederick Arden-Close, (10 August 1865 – 19 December 1952) was a British geographer and surveyor. He was Director General of the Ordnance Survey from 1911 to 1922. His insistence on attention to detail saw the improve ...

*1928: Edward Ayearst Reeves *1930: Emmanuel de Margerie *1932: Arthur Philemon Coleman *1934: Edward Heawood *1935: Edward James Wayland *1936:

Stanley Wells Kemp Stanley Wells Kemp, FRS (14 June 1882 – 16 May 1945) was an English marine biologist. He was born in London, the second of three sons of Stephen Kemp, a professor at the Royal Academy and Royal School of Music. As a boy he took an interest i ...

*1938:

Arthur Robert Hinks Arthur Robert Hinks, CBE, FRS (26 May 1873 – 14 April 1945) was a British astronomer and geographer. As an astronomer, he is best known for his work in determining the distance from the Sun to the Earth (the astronomical unit) from 1900 t ...

*1940: O. G. S. Crawford *1941:

Harold Jeffreys Sir Harold Jeffreys, FRS (22 April 1891 – 18 March 1989) was a British mathematician, statistician, geophysicist, and astronomer. His book, ''Theory of Probability'', which was first published in 1939, played an important role in the revival ...

*1946: Herbert John Fleure, ''for distinguished service in the advancement of geographical education and valuable researches into the human aspects of geography'' *1947: Eva G. R. Taylor *1948:

Frank Debenham Frank Debenham, OBE (26 December 1883 – 23 November 1965) was Emeritus Professor of Geography at the Department of Geography, Cambridge University and first director of the Scott Polar Research Institute. Biography Debenham was born in B ...

*1950: Emmanuel de Martonne *1951:

Charles Cotton Charles Cotton (28 April 1630 – 16 February 1687) was an English poet and writer, best known for translating the work of Michel de Montaigne from the French, for his contributions to ''The Compleat Angler'', and for the influential ''The Com ...

*1953:

John Myres Sir John Linton Myres Kt OBE FBA FRAI (3 July 1869 in Preston – 6 March 1954 in Oxford) was a British archaeologist and academic, who conducted excavations in Cyprus in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Life He was the son of the ...

*1955: Sir John Russell, ''for his studies of soils and agriculture'' *1957: Sidney William Wooldridge *1958: Roberto Almagià *1959: Gerald Seligman *1960: James Alfred Steers *1962:

Carl Troll Carl Troll (24 December 1899 in Gabersee – 21 July 1975 in Bonn), was a German geographer, brother of botanist Wilhelm Troll. From 1919 until 1922 Troll studied biology, chemistry, geology, geography and physics at the Universität in München. ...

*1963: Henry Clifford Darby *1964: John Norman Leonard Baker *1966: Gerald Roe Crone *1967: Charles W. Phillips *1968: Walter Christaller *1969: Marcel Aurousseau *1970:

Raleigh Ashlin Skelton Raleigh Ashlin Skelton (21 December 1906 – 7 December 1970) is best known for his work on the history of cartography and particularly his attempts to prove the authenticity of the Vinland map. Life An enigmatic personality, Skelton was known as ...

*1971:

Oskar Spate Oskar Hermann Khristian Spate (30 March 191129 May 2000) was a geographer best known for his role in strengthening geography as a discipline in Australia and the Pacific. Early life Spate was born to a German father and an English mother in the ...

*1972: George Henry John Daysh *1973: Emyr Estyn Evans *1974: Charles Alfred Fisher *1975: Carl O. Sauer *1976:

Joseph Newell Jennings Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

*1977: Emrys Jones *1978: Terence Armstrong *1979: Torsten Hägerstrand *1980: Jean Gottmann *1981: Julius Büdel *1982: Helmut J. Jusatz *1983: Bertram Hughes Farmer *1984:

Richard Hartshorne Richard Hartshorne (December 12, 1899 – November 5, 1992) was a prominent American geographer, and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who specialized in economic and political geography and the philosophy of geography. He is k ...

*1985: John Terence Coppock *1986: Ren Mei'e *1987: Chauncy Harris *1988:

Brian Berry Brian Joe Lobley Berry (born February 16, 1934) is a British-American human geographer and city and regional planning (disambiguation), city and regional planner. He is Lloyd Viel Berkner Regental Professor in the School of Economic, Political an ...

*1989: David Simonett *1990: Ron Johnston *1991: John Clarke *1992: John Goddard *1993: Norman Graves *1994: Doreen Massey *1995:

Helen Wallis Helen Margaret Wallis (17 August 1924 – 7 February 1995) was the Map Curator at the British Museum (afterwards the British Library) from 1967 to 1987. Biography Born at Dunkery, Park Road, Barnet on 17 August 1924, Wallis was the daughter ...

*1996: Ronald Abler, ''for his contribution to human geography and enhancement of links between British and American geography'' *1997:

David Lowenthal David Lowenthal (26 April 1923 – 15 September 2018) was an American historian and geographer, renowned for his work on heritage. He is credited with having made heritage studies a discipline in its own right. Biography David Lowenthal was b ...

*1998: Ian Simmons *1999: Robin Butlin *2000: Desmond Walling *2001: Peter Dicken *2002:

Angela Gurnell Angela Gurnell is a British geoscientist who is Professor of Physical Geography at Queen Mary University of London. Her research considers hydrology, geomorphology and plant ecology. She is particularly interested in how vegetations and fluvial p ...

*2003:

Nigel Thrift Sir Nigel John Thrift (born 12 October 1949 in Bath) is a British academic and geographer. In 2018 he was appointed as Chair of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, a committee that gives independent scientific and technical advice ...

*2004:

Michael Watts Michael J. Watts (born 1951 in England) is Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of California, Berkeley. He retired in 2016. He is a leading critical intellectual figure of the academic left. His first book, ''Silent Violence:F ...

, ''for research on political economy, culture and power'' *2005: Ray Hudson, ''for research on regional and industrial change in the UK and wider Europe'' *2006: Jim Rose, ''for contributions to quaternary research'' *2007:

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

, ''for research on social geography'' *2008: Linda McDowell, ''for research in socio-economic and feminist geography'' *2009: Philip Rees, ''for research on population geography and demography'' *2010: Rick Battarbee, ''for research in environmental change'' *2011: John Lowe, ''for research in Quaternary Science''. *2012: Stuart N. Lane, ''for research in physical geography and hydrological modelling''. *2013: Paul A. Longley, ''for research in geographic information science''. *2014: Susan Jane Smith, ''for research on geography'' *2015: Stephen Daniels, ''for research excellence in cultural geography'' *2016: Ron Martin, ''for research excellence in regional economic development'' *2017: Andrew Cliff, "for research excellence in spatial epidemiology" *2018:

Wendy Larner Wendy Larner is a New Zealand social scientist who has focussed on the interdisciplinary areas of globalisation, governance and gender. She is currently Provost at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand. In July 2018 she became the Preside ...

, "for internationally leading research on globalisation and political economy" * 2019: David Thomas, "for world leading research into dryland environments and societies" * 2022 Paul Cloke Rural geography

References

Royal Geographical Society'
page of links
to lists of past recipients. {{Royal Geographical Society Awards of Royal Geographical Society Awards established in 1902

Past recipients

See also

References