AIS Board of Directors Award

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The AIS Board of Directors Award was an award given to an iris that has had an extraordinary influence on iris breeding but never received the highest AIS award, the Dykes Medal. While this award to no longer exists, there have been recent discussions toward reviving it.

Winners of the AIS Board of Directors Award

Year	Iris	Type	Hybridizer
1987	'White Swirl'	SIB	Fred Cassebeer

'White Swirl' received an Honorable Mention award in 1957. In 1961 Ben Hager wrote “This one (White Swirl) is such an advance that it doesn’t look like a Siberian Iris …. almost …. The Morgan Award should be revived for this one alone if necessary”, and in 1962 'White Swirl' did in fact receive this award (then the equivalent of an Award of Merit) which had not been given since 1954. Even more impressive, in 1987, 12 years after Mr. Cassebeer’s death, it received the AIS Board of Directors Award given to an iris that has had an extraordinary influence on iris breeding but never received the highest AIS award, the Dykes Medal. This award no longer exists (unfortunately to my thinking), but 'White Swirl' certainly earned it.

From the World of Irises posting "Siberian Irises: The Greatest of Them All – White Swirl", Bob Hollingworth, February 25, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.

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-- WayneMesser - 27 Jan 2020