On January 22, the first meeting of the new Academic Council of the Russian Geographical Society took place at the Headquarters of the RGS in Moscow. The event included tackling the organizational issues as well as presenting the Society’s awards and considering grant applications.
The new composition of the Academic Council of the RGS was elected at the XVII Congress of the Russian Geographical Society, which was held on October 22–23, 2025.
The meeting began with the election of the Chairman and Academic Secretary of the Academic Council of the RGS. Nikolai Kasimov, First Vice-President of the RGS, President of the Faculty of Geography of Lomonosov Moscow State University, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Ilya Gurov, First Deputy Executive Director of the RGS, were re-elected for a new term.
«Dear members of the Council, I would like to recall that at the last Congress of the RGS you were all elected members of the Academic Council of the Russian Geographical Society. I hope that we will work together for the benefit of our Motherland and the Russian Geographical Society for the entire period that is allocated to us, that is, for five years,» Nikolai Kasimov emphasized in his speech.
Two members of the Academic Council of the RGS were presented awards of the Russian Geographical Society for outstanding achievements in the field of geography and related sciences. The medals were presented by Nikolai Kasimov.
«We have two awards that we are presenting today. Valery Aleksandrovich Tishkov is awarded the N. N. Miklukho-Maklay Gold Medal for his services in the field of ethnography and for his long-term successful leadership of the Ethnographic Commission of the RGS. And the Small Bronze Medal of the RGS is awarded to Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Lobzhanidze for his services in the field of geographical education and for his long-term work in the Geographical and Environmental Education Commission of the RGS,» Ilya Gurov said during the ceremony.
The meeting determined the composition of the Presidium of the Academic Council of the RGS, which included 20 people, and also elected the Deputy Chairmen of the Academic Council of the RGS. They are Sergei Dobrolyubov, Vice-President of the RGS, Dean of the Faculty of Geography of Lomonosov Moscow State University, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Kirill Chistyakov, Vice-President of the RGS, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Branch of the RGS, Director of the Institute of Geosciences of St. Petersburg State University.
Another traditional part of the meeting was the consideration of initiative grants. Five active commissions of the Russian Geographical Society, the Council of Elders, and the Academic Council of the RGS presented their own projects.
The meeting ended with the determination of the new composition of the Ethnographic Commission of the RGS. The composition was presented by the chairman of the commission, Valery Tishkov, and unanimously approved by the members of the Academic Council of the Russian Geographical Society.