Joseph George Hudak

Joseph George Hudak

Quick Facts

Significance:

Partner in Olmsted Firm

Date of Birth:

1926

Date of Death:

2016

Notable Projects while at Olmsted Firm:
Patapsco Tunnel Approach Roads, Baltimore, Maryland
Colby College, Waterville, Maine
Fort Tryon Park, New York City, New York
University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi
Sloan-Kettering Institute, Rye, New York
 

Joseph Hudak was born in Philadelphia in 1926. He remarked that even as a boy, he knew that he would eventually choose a career that would allow him to be outdoors. In 1951, Hudak graduated from Penn State with a degree in Horticultural Science. He started at the Olmsted firm in 1953 as a draftsman on Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan. Hudak traveled extensively over the eastern United States and Canada for the firm in his early years, honing his skills on the job, which included refining his expertise in plant materials. In 1956, he became the youngest partner at the firm, and remained with Olmsted Associates until 1979. In 1999, Hudak became the plant materials instructor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and also taught at the Radcliffe Seminars Program. Also, in 1999 he received the Meritorious Service Award for lifetime achievements from the American Horticultural Society. He has authored many books on gardening, including Design for Gardens and Gardening with Perennials Month by Month, which became the most popular book on the subject.