This award recognizes those individuals who have (1) Evidence of exceptional professional commitment to geography at any level, including service to professional organizations; colleges and universities; primary and secondary education; local, state, or national government; private business and industry; (2) Examples of worthy contributions include but are not limited to appointed or elected professional offices, journal editorships, professional organization committees, speaking or otherwise providing leadership in a variety of public forums, and publication in the popular press.
The following distinguished Geographers have been awarded the SEDAAG Outstanding Service Award since 1987
| Year | Recipient | Institution |
| 1987 | Donald Patton | University of Florida |
| Sidney Jumper | University of Tennessee | |
| Harm de Blij | Miami University | |
| 1990 | Stephen S. Birdsall | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| 1991 | Neal G. Lineback | Appalachian State University |
| 1992 | Stanley Brunn | University of Kentucky |
| 1993 | James O. Wheeler | University of Georgia |
| 1994 | J. Dennis Lord | University of North Carolina, Charlotte |
| 1995 | Janet E. Kodras | Florida State University |
| 1996 | Jesse O. McKee | University of Southern Mississippi |
| David C. Weaver | University of Alabama | |
| 1997 | Dennis L. Spetz | University of Louisville |
| 1998 | Thomas Bell | University of Tennessee |
| 1999 | Howard G. Johnson | Jacksonville State University |
| 2000 | Truman Hartshorn | Georgia State University |
| 2001 | John J. Winberry | University of South Carolina |
| 2002 | Lizbeth Ann Pyle | West Virginia University |
| 2003 | Tyrel “Tink” Moore | University of North Carolina, Charlotte |
| 2005 | Kavita Pandit | University of Georgia |
| 2006 | Ron Mitchelson | East Carolina University |
| 2007 | Gerald Webster | University of Wyoming |
| 2008 | Donald Zeigler | Old Dominion University |
| 2009 | Laurence W. Carstensen | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
| 2010 | Jonathan I. Leib | Old Dominion University |
| 2011 | Derek Alderman | East Carolina University |
| 2014 | Hilda Kurtz | University of Georgia |
| 2015 | Doug Gamble | University of North Carolina, Wilmington |
| 2016 | David M. Cochran, Jr | University of Southern Mississippi |
| Carl A. Reese | University of Southern Mississippi | |
| 2017 | Kathleen Schroeder | Appalachian State University |
| 2018 | Eric Fournier | Samford University |
| 2019 | Deepak Mishra | University of Georgia |
| 2020 | Katherine Hankins | Georgia State University |
| 2021 | Heidi Lannon | University of Florida |