Arthur R. Kruckeberg – Recipient of the 2006 Peter Raven Award

Abstract

Arthur (Art) Kruckeberg turned 86 on the first day of spring, 2006. This means he has been Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington for 18 years. Being emeritus hasn’t diminished his tireless energy, though; it just means that he has been able to devote himself full-time to educating the world, especially those who live in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), to the joys of native plants, gardening, taxonomy, conservation, and whatever else the self-proclaimed ‘‘All-purpose Botanist’’ thinks people ought to know or would like to know. I can’t imagine any systematist more deserving of the Peter Raven Award for ‘‘exceptional efforts at outreach to non-scientists.’’ Art was born into a family in which the family business helped spread the word of plants and their appreciation. His father, and grandfather before him, operated the Kruckeberg Press in Los Angeles, which published gardening and horticultural publications and plant catalogs. As a young man, Art also worked at the press and fully expected to take over the family business one day. That was not to happen, however. Upon graduation from Occidental College in 1941, Art was invited by Ira Wiggins to apply to Stanford for graduate school, which he did. This created a dilemma for the young botanist who had assumed he would follow his father into the family business. He worried that his father would disapprove of a career choice that would lead him into academics. His father, of course, blessed his decision to pursue his chosen career, but admonished him not to isolate himself in the ivory tower, but rather to use his expertise to make science relevant to the public. This message was taken to heart and, throughout his long and illustrious career, Art Kruckeberg has reached out to a community that extends far beyond the University. Prior to starting grad school, in the summer of 1941, Art was hired as the field assistant to Drs. Jens Clausen, David Keck, and William Heisey of the Carnegie Institution in Palo Alto. Imagine the good fortune for a beginning graduate student to spend the summer in the Sierra Nevada working on what was the premier experimental field FIG. 1. Art Krukeberg circa 1969 (photo courtesy of Dr. D. Henderson). Systematic Botany (2007), 32(1): pp. 4–7 # Copyright 2007 by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists