Purpose of the Sidney B. Meadows Award of Merit
- To honor and recognize outstanding individuals for their contributions to the nursery industry and to plant propagation in the Southern Region of North America.
- This is the highest honor bestowed upon a member.
Criteria
- Must have been a member of the Southern Region IPPS
- Has made an outstanding contribution to the IPPS and to plant propagation and production
- Dedication to the ideals of the society to “seek and share”
- Award cannot be presented to an individual more than once
Award Committee
Composed of five members: 3 most recent past presidents and 2 most recent recipients of the award
The chairperson is the earliest elected past president, i.e. senior past president. The chairperson is rotated off the committee after each year.
Nomination Process
Any member can nominate an individual for consideration. The Secretary-Treasurer must receive this nomination by June 1.
Please download the nomination form below.
Nomination Form
The Southern Region Secretary-Treasurer will annually send out an announcement to the general membership asking for nominations, which will be passed on to the Chairperson. The Secretary-Treasurer will also submit a list of potential nominees for the committee to consider from their computerized membership files, which contains past positions held, contributions to the IPPS, propagation, and other worthy achievements.
After receiving this information from the Secretary-Treasurer, the Chairperson sends the list of potential awardees, along with any information received by the Secretary-Treasurer, to the committee members in May.
Each committee member ranks the top three candidates and submits the information back to the Chairperson, who tallies up the score: 1st = 10 points, 2nd = 7 points, and 3rd = 4 points. There is a column to indicate that no submitted candidate should be considered for that particular year (the award does not need to be given annually). This scored information, with the award winner’s name, is forwarded back to the Secretary-Treasurer.
The Secretary-Treasurer has a plaque made up (by September) for the awardee (the Secretary-Treasurer should personalize this each year – see samples.)
It is the Chairperson’s responsibility to get a biographical sketch of the awardee and forward it to the Secretary-Treasurer. The award is presented at the annual general business meeting and is presented to the awardee by the Chairperson.
Past Winners
- Dennis Niemeyer, 2023
- William "Bill" Turk, 2022
- Tom Saunders, 2021
- Dr. Gary Knox, 2020
- Robert "Bob" Black, 2019
- Robert "Buddy" Lee, 2018
- Dr. Patricia Knight, 2017
- Dr. Mack Thetford, 2016
- Eelco Tinga, Jr. 2015
- Rick Crowder, 2014
See all previous winners