UAF professor receives Polar Medal

January 14, 2016

The American Polar Society has awarded University of Alaska Fairbanks professor Lawson Brigham its Honorary Member Polar Medal.

Brigham received the medal during the society’s 80th Symposium recently at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. A certificate from the society notes that the award was in “recognition of your contribution to polar science and exploration and your support of the society’s mission to encourage polar research and education and to preserve polar history.”

John Splettstoesser, the chair of the society's Board of Governors, said the award was "long overdue."

The American Geographical Society said Brigham was recognized for his voyages as captain of the Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Sea, which sailed from the southernmost Antarctic limit in the Southern Ocean to the North Pole in seven months in 1994, making it the first vessel in history to reach the extremes of the global ocean.

He was also honored for his work on the Arctic Council as chair of the council’s Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment and in the International Maritime Organization for efforts developing the Polar Code, which was adopted in 2014. Brigham said the organization’s Polar Code provides new rules and regulations for ships operating in polar waters.

“It’s focused on protecting the Arctic people and the polar environment,” he said.

Brigham is shown with the Polar Sea icebreaker in the Ross Sea near Antarctica.

Since 1936, the society has honored 62 individuals with the medal for contributions to polar science and exploration. Other recipients include Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Adm. Richard Byrd. Brigham received the award with eight other recipients Nov. 5.

Brigham doesn’t compare himself to those early explorers. "Our exploration aboard the Polar Sea was about research and understanding the planet," he said.

His recent work has focused on Arctic policy, specifically issues related to marine safety and environmental protection.

Brigham is a distinguished professor of geography and Arctic policy. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1970 and earned a doctorate in oceanography from the University of Cambridge in 2000. He came to UAF in 2009 after a career as a Coast Guard officer, in which he commanded four Coast Guard cutters, including the Polar Sea on Arctic and Antarctic waters. He spent six years as the Alaska director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission.

Brigham is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Arctic and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was elected in 2013 to the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research.