Official logo of the American Association of Geographers
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Formation | 1904 |
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Location | |
President
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Glen M. MacDonald |
Key people
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Douglas Richardson |
Website | Official website |
The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a non-profit scientific and educational society aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of geography and related fields. Its headquarters are located at 1710 16th St NW, Washington, D.C. The organization was founded on 29 December 1904 in Philadelphia as the Association of American Geographers, with the American Society of Professional Geographers later amalgamating into it on 29 December 1948 in Madison, Wisconsin. Currently, the association has more than 10,000 members from over 60 countries. AAG members are geographers and related professionals who work in the public, private, and academic sectors.
In 2016 AAG President Sarah Witham Bednarz Ph.D announced in the AAG Newsletter "Effective January 1, 2016, the AAG will begin to operate under the name "American Association of Geographers," rather than "Association of American Geographers... in an effort to re-think our systems of representation to acknowledge our growing internationalism." Spearheaded under the presidency of geography professor Eric Sheppard (UCLA, formerly University of Minnesota), the name change reflects the US-based organization's diversity and inclusion of non-American members and participants.
The Annals of the Association of American Geographers and The Professional Geographer are the association's flagship journals. The AAG also publishes a monthly newsletter that contains reflections on programs and issues of concern in society of a geographic nature, a jobs column, and accomplishments and innovations of AAG members. The AAG additionally publishes the Guide to Geography Programs in the Americas, a description of programs in higher education in North and South America that offer a geography degree, a geography certificate program, and/or geography courses. Another publication is Earth Interactions.
The AAG has over 60 specialty or affinity groups, voluntary associations of AAG members who share interests in regions or topics. Specialty groups have long provided a way for geographers with specific interests to collaborate and communicate. The AAG offers Knowledge Communities, a set of online tools for collaboration.