Chicago Botanic Garden

for immediate release

Chicago Botanic Garden Honors
Dean James Gustave Speth

Global Environmental Leader, 2008 Recipient of
Prestigious Hutchinson Medal

 

Media Only:
Gloria Ciaccio
(847) 835-6819
gciaccio@chicagobotanic.org

GLENCOE, Ill. (April 11, 2008)—The Board of Directors of the Chicago Horticultural Society has honored Dr. James Gustave Speth, Dean of Yale University’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and one of America’s greatest environmental leaders, with the Society’s Hutchinson Medal for his remarkable contributions to botany and conservation.

Throughout his career, Dean Speth has provided leadership to many environmental task forces and committees, including the President’s Task Force on Global Resources and Environment; the Western Hemisphere Dialogue on Environment and Development; and the National Commission on the Environment. From 1993 to 1999, Dean Speth served as administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the UN Development Group. Prior to his service at the UN, he was founder and president of the World Resources Institute; professor of law at Georgetown University; chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality; and senior attorney and cofounder of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Dean Speth has authored such seminal works as Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment; Worlds Apart: Globalization and the Environment; and articles in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Environmental Science and Technology, The Columbia Journal World of Business, and other journals and books. His new book, published by Yale University Press, is titles The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability.

In addition to receiving the Hutchinson Award, Dean Speth has been honored with the National Wildlife Federation’s Resources Defense Award, the Natural Resources Council of America’s Barbara Swain Award of Honor, a 1997 Special Recognition Award from the Society for International Development, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Environmental Law Institute, and the Blue Planet Prize.

The Hutchinson Medal was named for Charles L. Hutchinson, founder and president of The Art Institute of Chicago and a Chicago Horticultural Society board member. Dean Speth is the 55th recipient of the Hutchinson Medal, created in 1894 by the Chicago Horticultural Society and the Chicago Botanic Garden to recognize outstanding leadership or professional accomplishment that significantly furthers horticulture, botany or conservation. The first Hutchinson Medal was presented in 1911 to Edwin A. Kanst, a Lincoln Park horticulturist and member of the Executive Committee of the Horticultural Society of Chicago, which changed its name in 1945 to the Chicago Horticultural Society.

The most recent recipients have included Barbara Whitney Carr, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Botanic Garden from 1995 to 2007 (awarded in 2007) and Dr. E.O. Wilson (2004), the father of biodiversity. Other honorees have included William A.P. Pullman (1968), president of the Chicago Horticultural Society during the emergence of the Chicago Botanic Garden; Janet Meakin Poor (1994), a Chicago-area conservationist and landscape designer dedicated to preserving natural habitats; and Susumu Nakamura (2002), internationally renowned bonsai master, curator of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s bonsai collection and founder/director of the Shonan School of Bonsai in Yokohama.

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Editors, please note: The Chicago Botanic Garden's newsroom is online at www.chicagobotanic.org/pr. For digital images, contact Julie McCaffrey at (847) 835-8213 or at jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org.

The Chicago Botanic Garden, one of the green treasures of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, is a 385-acre living plant museum featuring 23 distinct display gardens surrounded by lakes, as well as a prairie and woodlands. With events, programs and activities for all ages, the Garden is open every day of the year, except Dec. 25. Admission is free; select event fees apply. Parking is $15; free for members. On Tuesdays, senior citizens age 62 and older pay just $7 for parking. The Garden is located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Ill. Visit www.chicagobotanic.org, or call (847) 835-5440 for seasonal hours, images of the Garden and commuter transportation information.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972 and is home to the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a broad array of adult classes in plant science, landscape design and gardening arts. Through the Division of Plant Science and Conservation, Garden scientists work on plant conservation, research and environmental initiatives that have global impact. The Center for Teaching and Learning brings the wonder of nature and plants to children, teens and teachers. The Garden's Horticultural Therapy and Community Gardening programs provide nationally recognized community outreach and service programs. The Garden is also breaking new ground in urban horticulture and jobs training through a 15-acre project in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago called Windy City Harvest. The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). In 2006, the Chicago Botanic Garden received the Award for Garden Excellence, given yearly by the APGA and Horticulture magazine to a public garden that exemplifies the highest standards of horticultural practices and has shown a commitment to supporting and demonstrating best gardening practices.