The Hubbard Medal is awarded by the National Geographic Society for distinction in exploration, discovery, and research. The medal is named for Gardiner Greene Hubbard, first National Geographic Society president. It is made of gold and is traditionally presented by the President of the United States.
| Year | Name | Profession | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 | Robert Peary | polar explorer | Farthest north travel by a human. |
| 1907 | Roald Amundsen | polar explorer | First to transit the Northwest Passage. |
| 1909 | Robert Bartlett | polar explorer | Traveled the farthest to the North Pole. |
| 1910 | Sir Ernest Shackleton | polar explorer | |
| 1926 | Richard E. Byrd | polar explorer/aviator | First flight over the North Pole. |
| 1927 | Charles Lindbergh | aviator | First solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean |
| 1931 | Roy Chapman Andrews | Gobi Desert explorer | |
| 1934 | Anne Morrow Lindbergh | aviator | For serving as radio operator and copilot to her husband Charles on two flights in 1931 and 1933 |
| 1935 | Captain Orvil Arson Anderson [1] and Captain Albert William Stevens | aeronauts [2] | Record setting ascent in balloon Explorer II . |
| 1954 | British Mount Everest Expedition | mountaineers | First ascent of Mount Everest.(group award) [3] |
| 1958 | Paul Allen Siple | polar explorer | Veteran of several Antarctic expeditions. |
| 1959 | Adm. Arleigh Burke Rear Adm. George J. Dufek | US Navy | Establishing Antarctic science stations. |
| 1962 | John Glenn | astronaut | First American to orbit Earth. [4] |
| 1962 | Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey | anthropologist | |
| 1963 | Norman Dyhrenfurth and his team | mountaineers | First Americans to climb to the summit of Mount Everest [5] |
| 1969 | Frank Borman Jim Lovell William Anders | astronauts | First crewed flight to the Moon. [6] |
| 1970 | Neil Armstrong Edwin Aldrin Michael Collins | astronauts | For first crewed landing on the Moon. [7] |
| 1978 | Marie Tharp Bruce C. Heezen | Cartography geologist | |
| 1981 | John Young Robert Crippen | astronauts | Awarded for first Space Shuttle flight. [8] |
| 1994 | Richard Leakey | anthropologist | |
| 1995 | Jane Goodall | environmentalist | [9] |
| 1996 | Robert Ballard | underwater explorer | Discovery of the wreck of the RMS Titanic [10] |
| 1999 | Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones | balloonists | |
| 2000 | Matthew Henson | polar explorer | Companion to first recipient Robert Peary. Awarded posthumously. (Not awarded at the time because of his race). [11] |
| 2010 | Don Walsh | oceanographer | Bathyscaphe Trieste Dive |
| 2012 | Jacques Piccard | oceanographer | First Mariana Trench expedition |
| 2013 | Sylvia Earle James Cameron E. O. Wilson | biologist film director/explorer biologist | Marine exploration Marine exploration Biological research |
| 2015 | George Schaller | biologist | for his unwavering commitment to the well-being of the world's most endangered species [12] |
| 2016 | Meave Leakey Nainoa Thompson | paleoanthropologist navigator | [13] |
| 2017 | Neil deGrasse Tyson | astrophysicist, author and science communicator | [14] |
| 2018 | Peter H. Raven | Biologist and environmentalist | [15] |
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom was an American engineer and pilot in the United States Air Force, as well as one of the original men, the Mercury Seven, selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Project Mercury, a program to train and launch astronauts into outer space. Grissom was also a Project Gemini and Apollo program astronaut for NASA. As a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps, Grissom was the second American to fly in space in 1961. He was also the second American to fly in space twice, preceded only by Joe Walker with his sub-orbital X-15 flights.
Roger Bruce Chaffee was an American naval officer, aviator and aeronautical engineer who was a NASA astronaut in the Apollo program.
Robert Edwin Peary Sr. was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was long credited as being the discoverer of the geographic North Pole in April 1909, having led the first expedition to have claimed this achievement, although it is now considered unlikely that he actually reached the Pole.
Buzz Aldrin is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. He was the second person to walk on the Moon after mission commander Neil Armstrong. Following the death of Michael Collins in 2021, he is the last surviving Apollo 11 crew member.
Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr., an American naval officer, was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a segment of the Arctic Ocean, and a segment of the Antarctic Plateau. He is also known for discovering Mount Sidley, the largest dormant volcano in Antarctica.
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt, known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.
National Geographic is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine months after the establishment of the society, but is now a popular magazine. In 1905, it began including pictures, a style for which it became well-known. Its first color photos appeared in the 1910s. During the Cold War, the magazine committed itself to present a balanced view of the physical and human geography of countries beyond the Iron Curtain. Later, the magazine became outspoken on environmental issues.
James Arthur Lovell Jr. is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the first three astronauts to fly to and orbit the Moon. He then commanded the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970 which, after a critical failure en route, looped around the Moon and returned safely to Earth.
John Leonard Swigert Jr. was an American NASA astronaut, test pilot, mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, United States Air Force pilot, and politician. In April 1970, as command module pilot of Apollo 13, he became one of 24 astronauts who flew to the Moon. Ironically, due to the "slingshot" route around the Moon they chose to safely return to Earth, the Apollo 13 astronauts flew farther away from Earth than any other astronauts before or since, though they had to abort the Moon landing.
Sylvia Alice Earle is an American marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer. She has been a National Geographic Explorer at Large since 1998. Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and was named by Time Magazine as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998.
The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his or her duties has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind". It's awarded by the President of the United States in Congress's name on recommendations from the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The award is a separate decoration from the Medal of Honor, which is a military award for extreme bravery and gallantry in combat.
Matthew Alexander Henson was an African American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on seven voyages to the Arctic over a period of nearly 23 years. They spent a total of 18 years on expeditions together. He is best known for his participation in the 1908–1909 expedition that claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole on April 6, 1909. Henson said he was the first of their party to reach the North Pole.
Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar, commonly referred to as Captain Wilkins, was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross after he assumed command of a group of American soldiers who had lost their officers during the Battle of the Hindenburg Line, and became the only official Australian photographer from any war to receive a combat medal. He narrowly failed in an attempt to be the first to cross under the North Pole in a submarine, but was able to prove that submarines were capable of operating beneath the polar ice cap, thereby paving the way for future successful missions. The US Navy later took his ashes to the North Pole aboard the submarine USS Skate on 17 March 1959.
Robert Abram Bartlett was a Newfoundland-born American Arctic explorer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Adolphus Washington Greely was a United States Army officer and polar explorer. He attained the rank of major general and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Barry Chapman Bishop was an American mountaineer, scientist, photographer and scholar. With teammates Jim Whittaker, Lute Jerstad, Willi Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein, he was a member of the American Mount Everest Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth, the first American team to summit Mount Everest on May 22, 1963. He reached the summit of Mount Everest by the South Col route on May 22, 1963 with fellow American Lute Jerstad, sharing the honor of becoming the second and third Americans to stand on Everest's summit. Prior to his Everest summit, Bishop participated in several other notable first ascents; the West Butress route on Denali in 1951, and the South West ridge route on 6,170 meter Himalayan peak Ama Dablam in 1961. He worked for the National Geographic Society for most of his life, beginning as a picture editor in 1959 and serving as a photographer, writer, and scientist with the society until his retirement in 1994. He was killed in an automobile accident near Pocatello, Idaho later that year.
David Legge Brainard was a career officer in the United States Army. He enlisted in 1876, received his officer's commission in 1886, and served until 1919. Brainard attained the rank of brigadier general and served during World War I as U.S. military attaché in Lisbon, Portugal.
The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for explorers and scientists worldwide.
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