Hall Of Fame Inductees

 

The individuals nominated should have made a significant impact or positive influence that assures the future of our industry in the lives of generations to come.

 

Once nominated, an individual’s biography and photo are updated on the site, and he or she is placed in the polls for voting. At the end of the year the committee takes into consideration the votes and decides which candidates are inducted.

 

Those with a star (*) next to their name below were either inducted posthumously or have passed away since being inducted.

 

Nomination Qualifications

  • Person with integrity and passion
  • Minimum 20 years in industry
  • Someone who has developed  or invented  new technology
  • Has made contributions that resulted in change
  • Contributed to mankind’s needs in his field
  • Provided education and encouragement  with self-sacrifice
  • Changed the industry

Dennis Pittenger

UC Riverside

 

Dennis is a respected educator and nationally recognized expert in landscape water management, palm management, and care of woody landscape plants.  In over 34 years of employment with the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), he has worked closely with UCCE colleagues and the Green Industry to carry out educational programs and research studies that address important industry issues.  Dennis has conducted noted field research studies on landscape plant water needs, transplanting specimen palms, tree root management, tree selection, and groundcover management, and he has organized and taught numerous workshops, seminars, and field days on these and other topics.

During his career, Dennis has authored or co-authored over 225 research articles and educational publications reporting and applying research results to help the Green Industry and related audiences.  He is the technical editor and co-author of the award-winning California Master Gardener Handbook, the University of California’s comprehensive basic horticulture reference, now in its second edition.  He also serves as the Irrigation Associate Editor for Landscape Contractor Design/Build/Maintain/Supply Magazine, and he leads UCCE’s Web-based Center for Landscape and Urban Horticulture that provides technical information on landscape water conservation and other topics.

In both 2010 and 2011, Dennis received the Arboriculture Research Award from the Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture.  More recently, he served a three-year appointment on a national technical committee of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) that developed the content for the new ANSI/ASABE S623 standard method for determining landscape plant water demands.

Dennis earned a B.S. in Agriculture and a M.S. in Horticulture from The Ohio State University.  In addition, he completed graduate course work in Soil Science at the University of California Riverside.  He joined UCCE and UC Riverside’s Botany and Plant Sciences Department as the statewide Urban Horticulture Extension Specialist in 1981 following four years of urban horticulture extension work with The Ohio State University in Columbus and Cleveland.  In 1994, UCCE appointed him to an Area Environmental Horticulture Advisor position serving Southern California from the UC Riverside campus.  Dennis is a member of the American Society for Horticultural Science, the International Society of Arboriculture, the Metropolitan Tree Improvement Alliance, and the California Landscape Contractors Association where he has served on their Resource Management Committee for over 25 years.

When Dennis is not working, he enjoys running, biking, hiking, playing golf, gardening, woodworking, and pursuing culinary experiences with his wife of 42 years.