GSA Honorary Fellow Award

Exceptional geoscientists who have distinguished themselves in exemplary scientific investigations may be elected as Honorary Fellows. Candidates are non-North Americans who live and work outside of North America. Most Honorary Fellows have been elected after many years of outstanding and internationally recognized contributions to the science. Honorary Fellows do not have to be members of GSA to be considered. The program was established by the GSA Council in 1909, and since then, except during a few war years, one or more Honorary Fellows have been elected annually. The Council of the Society encourages the membership to submit names of qualified candidates for this honor. In preparing a nomination, it is imperative that the original research and scientific advances of the candidate be stressed.

Current Recipients
Laura DeSantis

Laura DeSantis
National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics

Lin Ding

Lin Ding
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research in P.R. China

Nominate a Colleague

Distinguished Career Award

The Distinguished Career Award will be given to a GSA member who has made numerous, distinguished, and significant contributions that have clearly advanced the international geological sciences through both scientific investigations and service. The award will consist of a plaque inscribed with the name of the recipient, the name of the award, the name of the nominee’s Section, and the emblem of The Geological Society of America. The award will be presented to the awardee at the national GSA meeting. International encourages the membership to submit names of qualified candidates for this honor.

Current Recipients
Anke Friedrich

Anke Friedrich
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Past Recipients
2022 Anke Friedrich Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
2021 John P. Grotzinger California Institute of Technology citation/response
2020 Pinar Oya Yilmaz ExxonMobil Exploration Company citation/response
2019 Paul J. Fox Texas A&M University citation/response
2018 Peter H. Molnar University of Colorado citation/response
2017 No award given
2016 No award given
2015 No award given
2014 Farouk El-Baz Boston University citation/response
2013 B. Clark Burchfiel Massachusetts Institute of Technology citation/response
2010 W. Gary Ernst Stanford University (emeritus) citation/response
2009 Yildirim Dilek The Miami University citation/response
2008 Rolf Emmermann GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam, Germany citation/response
2007 Alan Gilbert Smith Cambridge University citation/response
2006 Eldridge M. Moores University of California, Davis citation/response
2003 John A. Reinemund USGS Chief of Internation Programs citation/response

Farouk El-Baz Student Research Grants

El-Baz Grant
Application Form

Research Grant Awards from the GSA International Interdisciplinary Interest Group (IIG)
This grant is to encourage and support desert studies by students world-wide either in their senior year of their undergraduate studies, or at the Masters or Ph.D. level. 

2020 Recipients

  • Harriet Cornachione, Utah State University
    “Holocene chronostratigraphy of desert dune fields in southern Utah - implications for natural moisture variability in the central Colorado Plateau.”
  • Howard Head, University of Cape Town
    “Climate change in the Early Jurassic: cyclicity and fluvial-aeolian interactions in the ancient desert system of southern Africa (Clarens Formation, Karoo Sgr.).”