Oct 5, 2017

AAS Awards Medallion of Honor

All-America Selections recently honored a horticulture luminary at its annual Awards Banquet at The Penthouse in beautifully reinvigorated downtown Rochester, New York.

The banquet was a mid-event celebration where industry representatives, judges, breeders, growers, retailers and resellers gathered to visit All-America Selections Trial Grounds and Display Gardens. Tour stops included the Harris Seeds trial grounds and offices, Greentopia and Green Visions in Rochester, Bejo Seed trials in Canandaigua and Sonnenberg Gardens in Geneva, New York.

The AAS Medallion of Honor is presented to an individual who has given a lifelong dedication to the advancement of horticulture. All-America Selections presented the 2017 Medallion of Honor to Vicky Rupley of Harris Seeds in Rochester, New York.

Rupley started her career by attending the University of Rhode Island, including a summer internship pollinating tomatoes at Harris Seeds. She then went on to UC Davis in California and received a Masters in Agriculture Education earning her credentials to teach and lecture on vegetable crops.

In 1985, she transitioned to the industry, working at Harris Moran Seed Company, Ball Seed, Sluis & Groot and Harris Seeds where today she serves as the company’s executive vice president.

In addition to her professional career, Rupley has generously given of her time as a member of the National Garden Bureau board of directors from 1995-1998, then as a member of the All-America Selections Council of Judges beginning in 2006. While serving as a judge, she then joined the AAS board of directors as a director, vice president, president, past-president from 2007-2015.

Fellow AAS Director Mark Gross from PanAmerican Seed, a long-time industry colleague and friend of Rupley, presented the Medallion award.