Recently, the Geological Society of America (GSA) announced the list of recipients of the 2026 International Honorary Fellow Award. Academician Shen Shuzhong was successfully selected in recognition of his outstanding achievements and significant international influence in the fields of Permian stratigraphy, systematic paleontology, and major biological events. This award is limited to only two scholars worldwide each year.

Founded in 1888, the Geological Society of America is one of the oldest and most influential international geoscience academic organizations in the world. Its International Honorary Fellow Award was established in 1909 to honor scientists outside North America who have long been engaged in outstanding scientific research, achieved original results, and made outstanding contributions to the development of international geoscience. This honor particularly emphasizes the candidate's original scientific discoveries and their role in advancing the discipline and is one of the highest-level awards conferred by the Geological Society of America on international geoscientists.

Academician Shen Shuzhong is an internationally renowned stratigrapher and paleontologist, who has long been dedicated to the taxonomy, evolution, and paleobiogeography of Permian brachiopods, major biological and environmental events, and high-precision chronostratigraphic research. The Geological Society of America highly praised Academician Shen Shuzhong's academic contributions, noting that through decades of systematic research, he has achieved foundational results in the taxonomy, evolution, and global distribution of Permian brachiopods. He combined traditional systematic paleontology with geochemistry, big data analysis, and digital modeling, promoting the development of Permian stratigraphy and paleontology, and using key geological sections in South China, made important contributions to the high-precision chronological constraints on the major biological extinction event at the end of the Permian.

Figure 1. Academician Shen Shuzhong delivering his award acceptance speech.

Figure 2. Glenn Thackray (right), President of the Geological Society of America, presenting the award certificate to Academician Shen Shuzhong (left).

Academician Shen Shuzhong served as Chairman of the Permian Subcommission of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (2012–2020) and is currently Vice Chairman of the International Commission on Stratigraphy. He has received important academic awards such as the ICS Medal of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (2019), the Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award (2010, 2023), and the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress (2022) and has published more than 400 papers in international academic journals such as Science, PNAS, and Geology.

The awarding of the Geological Society of America International Honorary Fellow Award to Academician Shen Shuzhong highly recognizes his outstanding contributions in the field of geoscience. In addition, Academician Shen Shuzhong also received the title of Fellow of the Paleontological Society this year.