On September 18, the Wilderness Society presented environmental historian and University of Wisconsin-Madison professor William Cronon with its highest citizen’s honor, the Robert Marshall Award.

The award is named for Robert Marshall, a forester and activist who dedicated his life to wilderness conservation. Cronon is recognized for having “challenged conventional definitions of wilderness, and with that act have strengthened and diversified support for wild lands protection across the country over the past three decades.”

Cronon has published numerous works on North American environmental history, including an upcoming book entitled Saving Nature in Time: The Environmental Past and the Human Future. “By illuminating our connection to the land with such powerful stories,” Wilderness Society President Jamie Williams said at the award ceremony, “he has given our society hope that we might come to care for the land—and for each other—in a more profound way than we ever have before.”

Cronon served as president of the American Historical Association in 2013. You can read his presidential biography and other writings here.

The AHA congratulates Bill Cronon for receiving this distinguished award.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.