During its 119-year history, only eighteen AAG presidents were women. These women have served as role models and change agents who significantly influenced the AAG and the discipline of geography.
This article adds to our understanding of the experiences and impacts of these diverse women by examining the challenges that they faced and strategies that they used to develop their own careers and leadership experiences.
The analysis also documents the institutions where these women attended graduate school and worked. The discussion draws from interviews with seventeen AAG women presidents and supporting documents such as their presidential addresses, curricula vitae, publications, and AAG newsletters to analyze their initiatives and priorities, as well as their contributions to the field of geography.
The article concludes with recommendations for advancing women and other underrepresented groups in leadership positions in geography and academia as a whole.
Li, W., Mossa, J., Dixon, B., Oberhauser, A. M., Rock, A. E., Sultana, S., & Mukherjee, F. (2025). Experiences of Women AAG Presidents: Leading Through Diverse Voices. The Professional Geographer, 1-14.