Renowned Rutgers University turfgrass breeder Bill Meyer, Ph.D., has been named the recipient of the 2020 USGA Green Section Award.
The USGA Green Section Award honors distinguished service to golf through an individual's work with turfgrass. For more than 30 years, Meyer has made a significant impact on the turf industry through his turfgrass breeding work, which focuses on developing grasses for golf and other playing surfaces that are resistant to adverse factors.
As a professor at Rutgers University where he holds the title of Director of Turfgrass Breeding and C. Reed Funk Endowed Professor of Plant Biology and Genetics, Meyer has influenced all levels of the industry at the national and international levels through seminars, research papers and trade publications and his research in the field developing and improving turf varieties.
Meyer earned bachelor's (1968), master's (1969) and doctorate (1972) degrees all from the University of Illinois. He has been a plant breeder in the plant biology and pathology department at Rutgers since 1996 when he joined Rutgers as director of the turfgrass breeding program after 21 years as a commercial turfgrass breeder including 21 years as vice president of research for Turf Seed Inc. He is widely recognized as one of the world's leading breeders of cool-season turfgrasses and is known for developing several varieties such as Midnight Kentucky bluegrass.
Meyer will receive the award at the USGA's annual meeting Feb. 29 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
