WLBC Awards
The William L. Brown Award for Excellence in Plant Genetic Resources Conservation

The William L. Brown Award recognizes the outstanding contributions of an individual in the field of genetic resource conservation and use. It is administered by the William L. Brown Center (WLBC) at the Missouri Botanical Garden and is made possible through a generous endowment from the Sehgal Family Foundation, in cooperation with the family of Dr. Brown.

Bill Brown was a distinguished, internationally recognized scientist, businessman, and humanitarian. Over the course of five decades, he devoted himself to the collection, preservation, understanding, and sharing of plant genetic resources in order to help meet the global demand for food. The William L. Brown Award recognizes an individual whose efforts and achievements reflect a concern for those issues that were so important to Dr. Brown. 

William L. Brown Award Recipients

      2021 Gary Paul Nabhan

      2016 David Spooner

2014 Cary Fowler

2010 Peter H. Raven

2008 Nancy Turner

2006 Gordon Cragg

2004 Henry L. Shands

2002 Calvin O. Qualset

2000 Carlos Ochoa


Anne S. Chatham Fellowship

The Garden Club of America is pleased to announce a fellowship open to PhD candidates and recent PhDs to promote the study of medicinal botany. The fellowship was established to protect and preserve knowledge about the medicinal use of plants, and thus prevent the disappearance of plants with therapeutic potential. Providing this research opportunity for botanists can, in turn, assist medical science in its ability to protect lives, alleviate suffering, and develop new medicines. The fellowship was created and endowed by a generous contribution from Anne S. Chatham, a member of the Garden Club of America's Scholarship Committee, and a member of the Jupiter Island Garden Club.

Directions on how to apply, and list of fellows