Gregory Long

2020 Medal of Honor

In recognition of his dynamic leadership and innovative vision, which revitalized the New York Botanical Garden through ambitious capital projects, research, and program development.

Proposed by: Millbrook Garden Club, Zone III

Gregory Long served for 29 years as the chief executive officer of the New York Botanical Garden, a 250-acre National Historic Landmark in the Bronx and the largest garden in any US city. Mr. Long led 43 major projects, including renovating existing gardens, creating 15 new gardens, restoring the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, and building scientific research and educational facilities. He expanded the Mertz Library, the world’s largest plant library which holds over 11,000,000 archival items. He oversaw inventive exhibitions and educational opportunities, and he originated the New York Plant Genomics Consortium to identify genes from desert plants that may help plants survive in a changing climate. His work transformed the role of botanical gardens in the world.

The Medal of Honor is awarded for outstanding service to horticulture.

The Medal of Honor is The Garden Club of America's oldest national award. It was first given to Charles Sprague Sargent, a Harvard University professor and the founding director of the Arnold Arboretum, in 1920, and endowed in 1963 by the Bedford Garden Club, Zone III, in memory of member Alice Mary Sloane Anderson (Mrs. Arthur Marvin Anderson: 1888–1961). The medal was designed in 1920 by sculptor John Flanagan who also designed the original US quarter dollar coin that was first issued in 1932.

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