Dr. Kiat W Tan was trained in Orchidology at Michigan State University in 1967 and at the University of Miami, where he received his Ph. D. in 1974. He is the first recipient of the World Orchid Conference Trust Medal. He also received the American Orchid Society’s Gold Medal Achievement Award and the Royal Horticultural Society’s Veitch Memorial Gold Medal for advancing and improving the science and practice of horticulture.