2024 Honoree - David Ellis

David Ellis joined the American Horticultural Society as assistant editor in 1994 and has been editor of AHS's bimonthly membership magazine, The American Gardener since 1998. During that time, he has directed publication of nearly 200 issues of the magazine.  He plans to retire in December 2024. Over the course of his career with the AHS, he has also overseen the Society's garden book publishing program and helped manage its website, social media, and outreach programs, often serving as the AHS’s spokesperson. David has also been a tour host for AHS Travel Study programs, and will be leading a trip to the Cape region of South Africa in 2025. At the AHS, David coordinated publication of more than 20 gardening books, serving as a contributing editor for The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening Techniques and project director for Homegrown Harvest.  He was also a contributor to the AHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plantsand the AHS Encyclopedia of Perennials. In addition to writing dozens of articles published in The American Gardener, David contributed a chapter to Starting from Seed: The Natural Gardener’s Guide to Propagating Plants and served as consulting science editor for An Artist’s Garden by William Booth. He has been a guest on several radio programs and frequently served as a panelist with other garden communicators and journalists at national events.

An active member of Garden Communicators International since 1998, David was named a Fellow in 2008 and has served on numerous committees, including the award, green medal, ethics, and sustainability committees. Most importantly, he was willing to singkaraoke at GardenComm conferences from 2005 to 2019.