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] |
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