College of Arts and Sciences Geography Professor Emeritus Alexander Murphy received the prestigious 2026 Cullum Geographical Medal from the American Geography Society. The award is the organization’s most prestigious award and award — dating back to 1896 — and recognizes geographers who embody the spirit of exploration and enterprise.
Murphy specializes in political, cultural, and environmental geography. Prof. Murphy is the author of more than 100 research articles and book chapters, and several books, including "Geography: Why It Matters" (Polity Press, 2018; translations in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Italian). He is a Past President of the American Association of Geographers and former Senior Vice President of the American Geographical Society.
In the late 1990s, he chaired the committee that created the first AP Human Geography exam, which over 4 million students have taken. In the early 2000s, he chaired the U.S. National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council Committee charged with identifying “Strategic Directions for the Geographical Sciences.”
In 2014, Prof. Murphy was elected to membership in the Academia Europaea; in that same year the American Association of Geographers awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award. Murphy holds a bachelor’s degree in archaeology from Yale University, a law degree from the Columbia University School of Law, and a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Chicago.
AGS Vice President and Chair of the Honors and Awards Committee, Dr. Deborah Popper, remarked, “For me, no one is more deserving of the Cullum Geographical Medal than Alec Murphy. He has been the standard bearer for geography, respected on so many different fronts—in scholarship, the classroom, by university administrators and foreign dignitaries, neophyte geographers, and seasoned travelers.”
“Alec Murphy has been a champion of geography for his entire career. His passion for the discipline was sparked by his father, Richard Murphy, who was a geography professor at the University of New Mexico. His scholarship, especially in political geography, is internationally recognized. Working together on the AGS Council for over three decades was tremendously enriching. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award,” said Marie Price, president of AGS.
Murphy will receive the award at AGS’s annual Geography 2050: Africa Shaping Tomorrow symposium, taking place November 19-20 in New York City.
In 2021, CAS geographer Laura Pulido received the Cullum Geographical Medal for her career work on environmental and social justice.
— College of Arts and Sciences Communications