White House Photographs. 1961, April 19. Presentation of the National Geographic Society’s Gold Medal to Jacques Cousteau, 12:03PM Retrieved from https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKWHP/1961/Month%2004/Day%2019/JFKWHP-1961-04-19-A

Throughout his lifetime, Cousteau received several awards and honours for his contributions. These are just some of the notable ones, since there are too many to list all.

  1. 1956: Academy Award + Prix d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for “The Silent World”
  2. 1961: President JFK presented the Society’s Special Gold Model to Cousteau for his undersea exploration
  3. 1977: UN awarded him the International Environmental Prize
  4. 1985: US Presidential Medal of Freedom
  5. 1985: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit
  6. 1987: ‘The Founder’s Award’ from the ‘International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’
  7. 1988: UN Environmental Programme’s Global 500 Roll of Honor of Environmental Protection
  8. 1988: National Geographic Centennial Award
  9. 1990: ‘Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia’