Between his junior and senior years, he volunteered in the Netherlands in efforts to recover from the North Sea flood of 1953 and co-authored an article that was published in the National Geographic.

"Although I'm not sure I realized it at the time, it changed my life," Grosvenor recently recalled.

In 1970, Grosvenor assumed the position of editor of National Geographic Magazine.

He retired as president in 1996 and chairman in 2011, since which time he has served as an honorary director of The Explorers Club.

[7] Grosvenor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, by President George W. Bush on June 23, 2004.