 Kish's many awards included the Andrée Plaque for Polar Studies from the Swedish Geographical Society, the Greater Linnaeus Silver Medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, The University of Michigan's Henry Russel Lectureship  and the Honors Award from the Association of American Geographers.In 1981, he received the Jornard Prize of the Paris Society of Geography, an honor awarded just once each decade.He also was a Commander in the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity.