Dr. Peter H. Raven, a world leader in conservation and biodiversity, has devoted more than 35 years at the Missouri Botanical Garden to building a world-class institution of research, education, and horticultural display. He is the recipient of the National Medal of Science, the highest award given in this country for scientific accomplishment. Described by TIME magazine as a “Hero for the Planet,” Dr. Raven champions research around the world to preserve endangered plants and is a leading advocate for conservation and a sustainable environment. He has served as president of the Missouri Botanical Garden and George Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University since 1971. In founding the Garden, Henry Shaw specified that the Professor of Botany at Washington University would be the president of the Garden, so Dr. Raven occupies a dual position.

Under Dr. Raven’s leadership, the Missouri Botanical Garden has become a leader in botanical research in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, with strong programs in North America as well. The Garden’s education program in the St. Louis region reaches more than 100,000 students each year and provides professional development for teachers. The splendid horticultural displays attract more than 600,000 visitors to the Garden annually, including tourists to St. Louis from around the United States and the world. This year, the splendid exhibition by glass artist Dale Chihuly has enhanced attendance greatly, as has the wonderful new Doris I. Schnuck Children’s Garden opened this spring.

Dr. Raven received the 1988 St. Louis Award for outstanding service to the community and was named St. Louis Man of the Year in 1989. Six years later, he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In 1999, he received the Regional Chamber and Growth Association’s Right Arm of St. Louis Award and was named to the Academy of Missouri Squires.

As a result of his work in science and conservation, Dr. Raven is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the prestigious International Prize for Biology from the government of Japan; Environmental Prize of the Institut de la Vie; Volvo Environment Prize; Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement; the Sasakawa Environment Prize; and the International Cosmos Prize. He also has held Guggenheim and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowships.

Dr. Raven is co-editor of the Flora of China, a joint Chinese-American international project that is producing a contemporary account of the roughly 31,000 species of plants of China. He has written numerous books and publications, both popular and scientific, and is senior author of The Biology of Plants, the internationally best-selling textbook in botany, now in its seventh edition, and of Environment, a leading textbook on the environment, in its fifth edition.

Dr. Raven received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1960 after completing his undergraduate work at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds honorary degrees from a number of universities around the world, including locally St. Louis University, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, University of Missouri-Columbia, Washington University, Webster University, and Maryville University. Last spring he was awarded an
honorary Doctorate of Science degree by Yale University.