The Cornell chapter of Pi Alpha Xi (PAX), the national honor society for horticulture and plant sciences, inducted 21 new members during an April 26, 2022, ceremony.

Only the best students in the plant sciences are invited to join Pi Alpha Xi. The society was founded in 1923 at Cornell University and Cornell is the Alpha Chapter. Originally, it was the national honor society for floriculture, landscape horticulture and ornamental horticulture. In recent years it has expanded and now honors excellence in all aspects of horticulture and plant science.

Since its founding, PAX has grown to 39 chapters at baccalaureate-granting institutions. Its mission is to promote scholarship, fellowship, professional leadership, and the enrichment of human life through plants.

PAX was very active at Cornell University for many years, peaking in the 1970s. But the chapter went dormant for several years until its revival in 2013.  Pre-pandemic, the students held activities such as offering sessions to build free mini-gardens during finals week, a cut flower sale during St. Valentine’s Day week, and field trips to the Philadelphia Flower Show, New York Botanical Garden, and other locations.

The 2022 inductees are pictured above along with PAX officers Erica Kirchhof (President), Lauren Owens (Vice-President), Victoria Zeng (Secretary) and co-advisor Neil Mattson. The inductees are: Ashley Bao, Catherine Buck, Miguel Barrera, Jonathan Chai, Sydney Colon,  Isabella Colucci, Katrien de Waard, Griffin Erich, Jessica Finger, Mac Flanagan, Cesar Galan, Kishun Ghalan, Libby Gilmore, Julia Hart, Ben S Lee, Maryann McCloskey, Anna McGrade, Gideon Minning, Annemiek Morrison, Yuxing Niu, and Indigo Routh.