Kris S. Jarantoski

Kris S. Jarantoski

Years: 

1952–

Year Hutchinson Medal awarded:

2017

Vice President of Horticulture, Assistant Director (1993), Director (1995), and Executive Vice President (2001) of the Chicago Botanic Garden; board member and senior executive at the Chicago Horticultural Society

Kris S. Jarantoski is a nationally recognized public‑garden administrator, horticulturist, and longtime leader of the Chicago Botanic Garden, where he served in multiple senior roles over nearly four decades. Jarantoski retired in February 2017, leaving a lasting legacy through transformative campus planning, groundbreaking plant‑production innovations, national horticulture leadership, and mentorship of generations of public garden professionals.

Key Contributions:

  • Jarantoski is recognized as one of the most important horticultural leaders in the country, shaping the Chicago Botanic Garden into one of the world’s premier public gardens.
  • He managed or guided more than 20 major landscape improvement projects at the Garden, collaborating with renowned landscape architecture firms such as Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Oehme van Sweden, Dan Kiley, Mikyoung Kim, and Wirtz International.

Other Major Honors:

  • Garden Club of America
    • Zone XI Horticulture Commendation (2007)
    • Distinguished Service Medal (2011)
    • Honorary Membership (2016)
  • Professional Award, American Horticultural Society (2007)
  • Honorary Life Member Award, American Public Gardens Association (2014)
  • Arthur Hoyt Scott Medal and Award (2015)
  • George Robert White Medal of Honor, Massachusetts Horticultural Society (2015)
  • Honorary Membership, American Society of Landscape Architects (2016)
  • Chicago Horticultural Society Medal (2017)