JARS 49n3 - Gold Medal Award: Dr. Homer Salley

Gold Medal Award: Dr. Homer Salley

Citation

Your recent publication on rhododendron research was a mammoth task requiring several years of time, travel, and an exhaustive search through voluminous journals and reports. You did an excellent job assessing the relevance of the research data, producing abstracts, and neatly summarizing this information into two volumes. Your dedication to education led you to co-author an earlier book entitled Rhododendron Hybrids . This publication provides parentage information on over 5,000 hybrids. These books provide hybridizers with easy access to vital information and they have been lauded at the national and international level.

Your effort to set up the Delp Hybrid Preservation Committee has been instrumental in preserving rhododendron gene pools. Through extensive correspondence with known owners of Delp hybrids, you were able to obtain plants, cuttings and important information on these hybrids. In addition, you found an arboretum that was willing to plant a large number of these hybrids.

Your contributions at the chapter level are also unparalleled. You took the time to play a lead role in starting the Bluegrass Chapter. You also served with distinction on the Rhododendron Research Foundation.

With gratitude for all of these significant achievements and contributions, the American Rhododendron Society is proud to award its highest honor, the Gold Medal, to Dr. Homer Salley. May 13, 1995, Portland, Oregon.