Our 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award winner is Dr. John M. Dole. Dr. Dole will be presenting at the Kermit Olson Memorial Lecture on February 26th in Green Hall on the Saint Paul Campus. His lecture, “A Floral Journey – Discovering the Magic John Dole Headshotof Flowers” will discuss how flowering plants are the backbone of horticulture, to all of agriculture, and how the flowers they produce are integral to our society. Flowers occur in an almost infinite range of colors, sizes, shapes, fragrances and more. How did they get that way and what do the variations mean? During the lecture, we will explore the importance of flowers in our society, the evolutionary history of flowers and the pollination strategies that have shaped flowers.
Dr. Dole received his Ph.D. from the department in 1989. He is currently at North Carolina State University where he has been a professor, Department head and is currently the Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dr. Dole has an international reputation in horticulture for his work in floriculture crop production and handling and use of cut flowers, especially locally grown cut flowers. His work in postharvest handling of cut flowers, cuttings, and poinsettias are world-famous.
Dr. Dole has given numerous presentations in the US as well as all over the world, he is known as an accomplished speaker and floriculture expert throughout. Dr. Dole is one of the founders of the non-profit Seed Your Future initiative that aims to increase awareness of horticulture while also providing teaching materials to middle and high school students.
Dr. Dole is an outstanding example of a successful scientist who has advanced horticulture through research, teaching, and outreach. We are thrilled to be awarding him our Department of Horticultural Science Distinguished Alumni Award. Please join us on February 26th to congratulate him.