Harold Tanouye '57

When Tanouye attended Grinnell College in Iowa, he noted that anthuriums sent by his mother to his host families were always very well received. At the age of 28, he organized Hawaiian Heart Inc. and Hawaiian Anthurium Ltd. as the first major anthurium nursery on the island.

"In 1964, I finally decided to cut my own trail, so to speak. I wanted something to export," he told the Tribune-Herald in 2007. "I felt that I could make this into a business. It wasn't my intention to grow to some 30 acres of production."

Four years later, in 1968, he was recognized as the State of Hawaii Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year. In 1997, he developed Green Point Nurseries to grow and market leather leaf ferns and anthurium cut flowers, growing it into a multi-million-dollar business with dozens of acres of production that ships to locations all around the world.

It was his innovative production and distribution methods that really set Tanouye apart, recalled University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) Hawaii County Administrator Russell Nagata.