The American Horticultural Society recently named the recipients of its 2014 Great American Gardeners Awards. These awards are given to individuals, businesses, and organizations that
Paul W. Meyer received the American Horticulture Society’s most prestigious award, the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award. The award is given to individuals who make significant lifetime contributions to at least three of these horticultural fields: teaching, research, communications, plant exploration, administration, art, business and leadership. First awarded in 1958, it was named after Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954), noted horticulturist, educator and author.
Click here for a list of previous winners of the Liberty Hyde Bailey award.
Meyer has been the F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia since 1991. Meyer, who came to the Arboretum as curator of living collections in 1976, has played a significant role in its transformation from a dilapidated, little-known former private estate into a world-class public garden that welcomes about 125,000 visitors each year. He also teaches urban horticulture at the University of Pennsylvania’s Landscape Architecture Department. Meyer has a bachelor’s degree in landscape horticulture from the Ohio State University, a master’s degree in plant sciences from the University of Delaware, and Diploma in biology and plant taxonomy from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Many horticultural organizations have recognized Meyer’s achievements over the years. The Garden Club of America awarded Meyer a Special Citation in 1997 and made him an honorary member in 2007. He received the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Distinguished Achievement Medal in 1999. Most recently, he was presented the Award of Merit from the American Public Gardens Association in 2013.
Jules Janick was awarded the H. Marc Cathey Award. Janick, director for the Center for New Crops and Plant Products at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, has focused on during his long career at the institution includes fireblight resistance, genetics of sex determination, and the production of synthetic seed. Janick has also contributed to several crop improvement programs, including scab-resistant apples, delayed-bolting arugula, and crack-resistant tomatoes. He has received numerous plant patents and utility patents and has served as an editor for several major horticulture journals, including HortScience and Plant Breeding Reviews.
Click here to read about the other 2014 award winners.