Bequest Chairman of the Year

At the meeting of the class officers in Hanover on May 1, Richard PeregrineWhite '18 was honored as Bequest Chairman of the Year. The following tribute to his services to Dartmouth was read at the gathering:

Richard Peregrine White, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dartmouth's Class of 1918 and recipient of a Ph.D. from Cornell, you were presented in 1954 the George Robert White Gold Medal of Honor by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, considered to be the highest horticultural award in the country, if not the world. The fact that you were the youngest man ever to receive this honor testifies eloquently to more than 50 years of distinguished service and leadership you have now given to the horticulture profession and nursery industry in the roles of researcher, teacher (at Rutgers and Kansas State Universities), writer, eminent administrator and consultant. As executive secretary and executive vice president you built the American Association of Nurserymen into a strong, effective organization that grew from 352 to 1600 members in the 23 years of your leadership. After your "retirement" in 1961 you established and directed the Horticultural Research Institute and chaired the U. S. National Arboretum Council which advises the Secretary of Agriculture on projects involving new plant species. In 1965 you were justly honored as the first recipient ever of the Distinguished Service Award of the American Society of Association Executives.

Yet despite your incredibly busy and productive professional career you have since the day of your graduation remained a loyal and devoted son of Dartmouth. You have served the College and your Class as a member of the Alumni Council, president of the District of Columbia Alumni Association, Class Reunion Chairman for your 30th, Class Memorial Fund Chairman for eleven years, Class Memorial Gifts Chairman since 1964 and compiler of the 1918 Class Directory for your 50th Reunion in 1968.

Today, however, we honor you as Bequest Chairman of the Class of 1918, a job you have filled with distinction since the program was inaugurated more than twenty years ago. The typical enthusiasm and conscientious zeal you continue to put into this work ensure that when the "last page is writ," 1918 will have made an indelible and significant contribution to the Bequest Program's record of impressive support for Dartmouth.

Now, in honor of your service as Bequest Chairman of your class and in recognition of a lifetime of devoted effort on Dartmouth's behalf, the Association of Bequest and Estate Planning Chairmen is proud to proclaim you. Bequest Chairman of the Year.