
Years:
1921–2020
Year Hutchinson Medal awarded:
1991
Scholtz graduated from the University of Witwatersrand with degrees in zoology and botany. She was the first woman to direct a major urban botanical garden in the U.S. when she was appointed director of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 1972.
Key contributions:
- She served on boards/committees of major horticultural and public garden organizations
- Played a key role in forming and supporting Teatown Lake Reservation’s early environmental programming
- Remembered as an “inspiration for generations of gardeners worldwide” and a pioneering figure in public horticulture
Other honors:
- Arthur Hoyt Scott Garden & Horticulture Medal (1981)
- Liberty Hyde Bailey Medal—American Horticultural Society (1984), the highest U.S. horticultural honor
- Gold Veitch Memorial Medal—Royal Horticultural Society (1990)
- Medal of Honor—Garden Club of America (1990) Honorary Life
- Member Award—American Public Gardens Association (2008)
- Honorary degrees from Pace University and Long Island University.
