Sharon Tahirkheli of AGI Recognized for Service to the Institute
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Recognizing her outstanding long-term service to the American Geosciences Institute (AGI), former AGI Director of Scholarly Information Sharon Tahirkheli is named the 2025 recipient of the William B. Heroy Jr. Award for Distinguished Service to AGI. This award is given in recognition of exceptional and beneficial long-term service to the Institute.
Tahirkheli provides her time, expertise, and leadership to AGI in ways that far exceed the expectations of her former professional role and her ongoing service as AGI Emeritus Director of Scholarly Information. Since her retirement in 2023 after more than 40 years with AGI, Tahirkheli has continued supporting the success of AGI’s GeoRef database through her volunteer contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals tagging project and as the editor for hundreds of record entries each week. Tahirkheli has been instrumental in maintaining international collaborations, ensuring AGI stays up to date with Australian and German information exchanges. She continues to provide invaluable institutional knowledge to AGI leadership staff, offering guidance on AGI governance, history, and infrastructure. Beyond AGI, she serves on the Board of Directors of GeoScienceWorld, an aggregate of linked and interoperable earth science journals.
In 2019, Tahirkheli postponed her intended retirement to step up as AGI Interim Executive Director during a challenging period of federation’s history, providing stability and continuity as the Institute weathered financial strains and the COVID-19 pandemic. She served in that role as well as Director of Scholarly Information, overseeing GeoRef and additional databases, information collections, products and services.
Tahirkheli was instrumental in establishing GeoScienceWorld and participated in the development of the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) and the Multilingual Thesaurus of Geosciences. Her expertise has been sought at high levels, including on the International Union of Geological Sciences Review Committee of the Deep-Time Digital Earth initiative. During her career, she has authored numerous publications and served as speaker at professional conferences, meetings, and workshops.
Tahirkheli is a past president of the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) and was honored with the GSIS Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes significant contributions to the geoscience information profession. She also received the Mineralogical Society of America Distinguished Public Service Medal.
“Sharon Tahirkheli’s ongoing contribution to AGI’s effectiveness and success exemplify her commitment to AGI and the wider geoscience community,” said AGI Executive Director Jonathan Arthur. “Her leadership has contributed significantly to AGI, the geoscience profession, societies, and geoscience information services, and it is my honor to name her as this year’s Heroy Award recipient.”
“I was very surprised and honored to receive the Heroy Award from AGI,” said Tahirkheli. “The Institute plays a vital role in aiding in the dissemination of geoscience information, and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to assist the Institute and its staff in this mission.”
The Heroy Award is named after William B. Heroy Jr.’s exemplary service to AGI. Heroy’s professional accomplishments were exceeded only by his love of geology and his commendable modesty in the face of such achievements.
About AGI
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), a federation of scientific and professional organizations representing over a quarter-million geoscientists, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to serving the geoscience community and addressing the geoscience needs of society. AGI headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia.
Contact: Geoff Camphire, AGI Communications gac@americangeosciences.org