Prof Bryn Hubbard is being honoured for his work as a polar scholar in "glaciology, glacial geology and the structure and motion of ice masses".
Prof Hubbard, who spent nine weeks drilling on the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica, will receive the award at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The director of the centre for glaciology at the university said he was "honoured" to be recognised.
The Polar Medal was established in 1904 to reward the participants in Captain Robert F. Scott's first expedition to the Antarctic region.
In recent decades, most awards have been made to scientists who have worked over prolonged periods in harsh conditions to advance knowledge of the polar regions.
An Aberystwyth University glaciologist is to be awarded a Polar Medal.