The Back Award , also referred to as the Back Grant , was first given by the Royal Geographical Society in 1882 for "applied or scientific geographical studies which make an outstanding contribution to the development of national or international public policy" [ 1]
It is named after the notable Arctic explorer Admiral Sir George Back .
1882 Henry E. O'Neill , towards the purchase of instruments for explorations between Mozambique and Lake Nyasa.
1883 L'Abbé Émile Petitot , for his researches in the region of the great lakes of the American Arctic basin
1884 Emil Boss, for mountaineering in the unknown peaks of New Zealand and the Himalayas
1885 W. O. Hodgkinson , for three great journeys of exploration in Australia
1886 Sergeant David Legge Brainard , for his services rendered on the American Arctic Expedition of 1881-1884.
1887 Sarat Chandra Das , for his researches in Tibet
1888 No award
1889 F.C. Selous , for geographical work in his journey in Mashonaland and north of the Zambesi.
1890 No award
1891 W.J. Steines
1892 Revd James Sibree
1893 No award
1894 Capt. H.J. Snow, for his rectification of the map of the Kurile Islands
1895 Capt. C.A. Larsen, For his observations during his Antarctic voyage in 1894
1896 Joseph Burr Tyrrell , for his two expeditions in the Barren Grounds of North-East Canada
1897 Lieut. Carl Ryder , for his explorations in East Greenland in 1891 and subsequent years
1898 George P. Tate, for his survey work in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, especially Makran, Aden, and on the Indus
1899 Capt. Percy Molesworth Sykes , for his three journeys through Persia.
1900 Robert Edward Codrington , for his journey in the region between Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika
1901 Capt. William Colbeck , for his survey work in Victoria Land and during the voyage of the Southern Cross .
1902 Lieut. Georg Carl Amdrup, for his two voyages of exploration to the east coast of Greenland.
1903 Dr. W.G. Smith, for his investigations into the geographical distribution of vegetation in Yorkshire
1904 Marc Aurel Stein , for his valuable geographical work in Central Asia
1905 Capt. Philip Maud , for valuable survey work along the Southern border of Abyssinia in 1903
1906 Maj Richard George Tyndall Bright, for his eight and a half years' exploring in the Sudan, Uganda, and East Africa.
1907 C.E. Moss , for his important researches on geographical distribution of vegetation in England
1908 Lieut. G.E.A. Mulock , for his survey work on the National Antarctic Expedition , and for his long continued work in preparing the six sheets of Antarctic Charts
1909 Rai Sahib Lal Singh, for survey work iu Central Asia under Dr. Stein.
1910 Hanns Vischer, for crossing the Sahara from Kukawa, near Lake Chad to Tripoli
1911 Dr Arthur Neve , for his study of the physical geography and glaciology of the Himalayas.
1912 L.A. Wallace , for his exploration of the Tanganyika plateau and the country round it.
1913 William Singer Barclay, for his geographical work in South America.
1914 Ignazio Nicolas Dracopoli , for his survey of the Sonoran Desert and his expedition to the Lorian Swamp
1915 C.W. Hobley , for his work in Tanganyika
1916 Frank Wild , for his work as a Polar explorer
1917 Rev Walter Weston
1918 Capt. Robert Abram Bartlett , for his leadership after the loss of HMCS Karluk
1919 Ven. Archdeacon Hudson Stuck , for the first ascent of Mount McKinley
1920 James M. Wordie , for Polar exploration
1921 Marion Newbigin
1922 Khan Bahadur Sher Jang
1923 Bolton Glanvill Corney
1924 M. C. Lester , for his expedition to Graham Land , 1920-22
1925 Capt. Joseph-Elzéar Bernier
1926 Khan Sahib Afraz Gul Khan
1927 George Binney
1928 Capt. Albert H. MacCarthy, for first ascent of Mount Logan , 1925
1929 Philips Christiaan Visser
1930 Mrs Gordon-Gallien
1931 Col. Rowe
1932 H. Clutterbuck
1933 Freya Stark
1934 Dr D.N. Wadia
1935 Wilfred Thesiger
1936 Mohammad Ayub Khan
1937 Thomas Hay
1938 L.R. Wager
1939 Lieut-Cmndr R.E.D. Ryder
1940 Gerald Seligman
1941 Alfred Stephenson
1942 Srgn-Cmmdr George Murray Levick
1942–46 Not awarded
1947 Lieut-Col Andrew Croft
1948 A.J. "Jock" Marshall
1949 Brian Birley Roberts
1950 Richard George Goodchild
1951 Joseph Newell Jennings
1952 Henry Francis Porter Herdman
1953 G. de Q. Robin
1954 Cmmdr G.S. Ritchie
1955 Capt. O.C.S. Robinson
1956 Richard Hamilton
1957 Dr R.J. Harrison Church
1958 Bertrand Imbert
1959 David Stratton
1960 A.T. Grove
1961 Eric H. Brown
1962 B.W. Sparks
1963 Tony John Chandler
1964 Dr Keith M. Clayton
1965 Lieut-Cmmdr J.B. Dixon
1966 Dr S. Evans
1967 Prof. Sigurður Þórarinsson , ‘for contributions to vulcanology’
1968 Dr John D. Woods
1969 A.J. Lee
1970 Dr Nic C Flemming
1971 Dr Claudio Vita-Finzi
1972 Dr David R. Harris
1973 Professor J Leonard
1974 Captain David William Haslam OBE RN
1975 Professor Harold Chillingworth Brookfield
1976 Dr Keith J Miller
1977 Professor Ronald Cooke
1978 Dr Andrew Warren
1979 Professor John B. Sissons
1980 Professor Kenneth Gregory
1981 Dr Bruce Atkinson
1982 Dr Edward Derbyshire
1983 Dr W B Whalley
1984 Dr John R.G. Townshend
1985 Dr Desmond E. Walling
1986 Professor John Dawson
1987 Dr Stan Openshaw
1988 Dr Denis Cosgrove
1989 Dr Richard Battarbee
1990 Mr Rex Walford
1991 Dr Allan Findlay
1992 Professor Paul Mather
1993 Professor Linda Newson
1994 Mr Michael Eden
1995 Lt Col J. O. M. Roberts
1996 Dr Rory Walsh
1997 Professor David N. Livingstone
1998 Professor Jamie Peck
1999 Professor Michael Batty
2000 Dr Susan Owens
2001 Professor Linda McDowell
2002 Professor Andrew Gillespie, ‘for contribution to research linked to public policy on the role of information technologies in supporting and encouraging local change’
2003 Eleanor Rawling
2004 Professor Rob Imrie
2005 Dr Andrew Brookes
2006 Professor Graham Haughton
2007 Professor Mike Bradshaw
2008 Professor Richard Black
2009 Professor Danny Dorling
2010 Professor Chris Hamnett
2011 Professor Edmund Penning-Rowsell
2012 Professor Simon I. Hay
2013 Professor Jane Wills
2014 Professor David Gibbs
2015 Professor David Martin
2016 Professor Colin Thorne
2017 Professor Harriet Bulkeley , "for contributions to the shaping of international policy on climate change"
2018 Professor Hester Parr , "for contributions at the interface of geographical research and policy"[ 2]
2019 Professor Frank Tanser , "for research that has shaped national health policies in developing countries"[ 3]
2020 Professor Andy Tatem
2021 Professor Terry Marsden
2022 Professor Fiona McConnell
2023 Jane Rumble OBE
2024 Professor Peter Hopkins
Membership Awards Publications Other
