Walter H. Bucher Medal

The Walter H. Bucher Medal is an annual award to one honoree from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) for "for original contributions to the basic knowledge of the crust and lithosphere."{{cite web|url=https://www.agu.org/Honor-and-Recognize/Honors/Union-Medals/Walter-H-Bucher-Medal |title=Walter H. Bucher Medal, Information on the Bucher Medal|website=AGU }}{{cite web|url=https://repository.aip.org/islandora/object/nbla:294716 |title=Walter H. Bucher Medal |website=American Institute of Physics (AIP) Niels Bohr Library & Archives }} (For many years the medal was awarded every two years.)

The inaugural Bucher Medal was awarded in 1968 to J. Tuzo Wilson.{{cite journal|url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/TR049i002p00439 |doi=10.1029/TR049i002p00439 |title=First Award of the Walter H. Bucher Medal, April 8, 1968 |date=1968 |last1=Ackermann |first1=William C. |journal=Transactions, American Geophysical Union |volume=49 |issue=2 |page=439 |bibcode=1968TrAGU..49..439A }} From 1975 to 1995 and from 1996 to 2018 the medal was awarded every two years.{{cite web|url=https://www.agu.org/honors/bucher/past-recipients |title=Walter H. Bucher Medal, Past Recipients|website=AGU - American Geophysical Union }} The medal was established in 1966 (the year after Walter H. Bucher's death).{{cite web|title=Bucher Medal (as of 2011)|website=AGU|year=2011|url=https://honors.agu.org/files/2011/08/Bucher-Medal.pdf}}

The medal is named after Walter Hermann Bucher (1888–1965), president of the AGU from 1948 to 1953. Bucher's main fields of investigation were the Earth's tectonic processes and the resulting manifestations in the Earth's crust.{{cite book|author=Bradley, W. H.|author-link=Wilmot Hyde Bradley|year=1969|title=Walter Hermann Bucher 1888–1965|url=http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/bucher-walter-h.pdf|series=National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs|location=Washington, D.C}}