Norman Singer Endowment Fund

About Our Fund

The NARGS Endowment Fund was set up in 1983 upon the recommendation of Norman Singer, the society’s secretary, and approved by the board in 1984. The interest accruing from the funds in the endowment was restricted to special projects, rather than operations of the society.  In 1992, the NARGS board adopted guidelines for use of the funds and a committee appointed to recommend grants.

Norman held various positions in NARGS including president (1992-1994), and he received numerous awards from the society, including the Award of Merit and the Marvin Black Award.

Norman served in the U.S. Army in World War II, assigned to Bletchley Park (U.K.) as a code breaker. He became a performing arts administrator in New York City, including Lincoln Center, and the Aspen (Colorado) Music Festival. He and his long-term partner, Geoffrey Charlesworth, whom he had met at Bletchley, retired to Sandisfield, Massachusetts, in 1981.

Norman died in 2001, age 80, and the endowment fund was renamed to honor his contributions to NARGS.

Endowment Fund Application

Read the guidelines and apply for the Norman Singer Endowment Fund using the button below:

Submit Grant Application

Awarded

Year Amount Credits
2006 $1,500 University of Wisconsin (Madison), Allen Centennial Gardens for tufa bed.
$800 John Gyer - research on soil of root zone of sessile trillumns.
$4,000 Square Park, New York City - plant propagation.
2005 $2,200 Rod Haenni - seed collecting trip to the Atlas Mountains.
$4,600 V. Holubec - to assist in publishing of 'The Caucasus and its Flowers'.
$2,500 Marcel Jouseau - establish growth requirements for various plants.
$2,875 Pacifica, Southern Oregon - construction of rock garden by Josef Halda.
2004 $4,000 Denver Botanic Garden - Mt. Goliath Alpine/Rock Garden expansion.
$1,250 Lakewold Botanic Gardens (Lakewood, WA.) - expand rock garden display.
$5,000 Montreal Botanic Gardens - crevice garden with Lincoln Foster's favorite plants, and first suggested crevice gardens in North America.
$3,000 Malcolm McGregor - study and photograph Saxifrage in North America.
2003 $4,000 Betty Ford Alpine Rock Garden setting, Vail, CO.
$6,700 Nova Scotia Agricultural College (Truro, N.S.) - assist in completion of new area added at Rock Garden entry.
$4,000 University of British Columbia alpine house renovation/upgrades.
2002 $6,000 Denver Botanic Gardens for renovation of rock alpine garden, Brochure.
$1,500 Professor Rankin, study relationships between members of Gentianaceae and the soil in which they grow.
$2,500 Temple University Landscape Arboretum (Philadephia) to completely renovate rock wall: redesign, new plantings, signage.
2001 $3,000 Oregon Flora Project for prototype Photo Gallery using 100 rock garden plants as a pilot data set.
$2,000 Rock garden reconstruction at Meadow Book Hall at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan.
$1,500 Justen Whittall for a study of North American Aquilegia diversity.

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