Dean Daniel Nadenicek Named Honorary Member of the Garden Club of America
Daniel J. Nadenicek, dean of the College of Environment and Design has been named an honorary member of The Garden Club of America (GCA), one of its highest accolades. Nadenicek was recognized during a presentation at the GCA’s annual meeting in Baltimore in May.
Honorary members of the GCA are men and women of distinction in fields such as horticulture and conservation who are not, nor ever have been, members of a GCA club. Honorary membership is limited, and a maximum of four are awarded each year. Named along with Nadenicek were Bruce Crawford, director of Rutgers Gardens; Susan Rademacher, parks curator of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy; and Orley ‘Chip’ Taylor, founder and director of Monarch Watch. Peachtree Garden Club of Atlanta, member of the GCA, nominated Nadenicek for honorary membership.
Nadenicek and UGA have a unique relationship with garden clubs and the garden club movement, in that the first ladies’ garden club in America was founded in Athens, Georgia. Its historic home and garden are part of the facilities administered by CED. In addition, Peachtree Garden Club has provided CED students with scholarships for more than 70 years, and a number of GCA club members serve on the CED Dean’s Advisory Council.
“Dean Nadenicek is driven to know and understand the work of garden designers from the past and how the people of different cultures have interacted with their environments,” stated the GCA. “He is passionately concerned about incorporating these factors toward ensuring that projects today reflect the best of design while protecting the landscape for succeeding generations.”
Nadenicek’s 26-year career of research, editing and publishing on the subjects of garden history and the origins of the profession has resulted in more than 60 peer-reviewed and invited paper presentations worldwide. He has published some 50 peer-reviewed articles and scholarly book chapters. As a member of the editorial board of the UGA Press, Nadenicek assisted in developing a new landscape design book series. He presently serves as president of the Library of American Landscape History and co-editor of Landscape Journal, the flagship scholarly journal in landscape architecture. He was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2016.
The GCA is a nonprofit national organization composed of 200 clubs with some 18,000 members who devote energy and expertise to projects in their communities and across the United States. Founded in 1913, the GCA is a leader in horticulture, conservation and civic improvement. (www.gcamerica.org)