IGU Vice-President Dieter Soyez of the University of Cologne was recently awarded the Johan August Wahlberg medal in gold by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography at a ceremony in Stockholm. This is a singular distinction and is awarded to Professor Soyez for his meritorious contributions to research and teaching, in particular in the overlapping fields of nature and society, as well as for honorary work in the discipline of Geography from the local to the global level.
Former IGU President, Anne Buttimer, was in fact a recipient of the same Wahlberg Gold medal three years ago; she was recently awarded another Honorary doctoral degree from the Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France.
Seen in the photograph (by kind courtesy of Madeleine Bonow, Stockholm) are, from left to right, His Royal Highness King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Anders Fridfeld, University of Stockholm (Johan August Wahlberg medal in silver), Don Mitchell, University of Syracuse (Andrew Retzsius medal in gold) and Dieter Soyez (Johan August Wahlberg medal in gold).
