Cornell Establishes Endowment in Memory of Russell Weiss
November 4, 2022 
To honor the legacy of horticulture industry pioneer Russell Weiss, who passed away on June 15, 2021, at the age of 85, the Weiss family has established a $100,000 endowment to Cornell University’s Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center (LIHREC) in Riverhead, NY, in his memory.
The Russell Weiss Endowment is managed by Cornell University; the principal from this endowed fund is reserved and protected in perpetuity to allow the account to grow. Only the interest from this endowment can be used, and it will be employed to support the LIHREC’s research and Extension programs exclusively.
Weiss began working in the greenhouse industry alongside his grandfather Otto and father Kurt at an early age, growing azaleas in Queens, NY. He went on to study at Cornell University, graduating in 1957 and then completing graduate studies at the University of Maryland. Eventually, Russell and his father branched out to begin the present-day company, Kurt Weiss Greenhouses, Inc., headquartered in Center Moriches on Long Island. Under Russell’s leadership, the company quickly expanded from growing azaleas for New York City to a full-fledged growing operation producing azaleas, hydrangeas, annuals, perennials, tropical plants, and more. He served as President and CEO from 1972 until handing the company off to the next generation in 2016.
By the early 1980s, Russell’s grand vision helped build the company into a mini-conglomerate providing landscaping services to the Park Avenue Mall in Manhattan, wholesaling other growers’ crops, manufacturing horticultural equipment, and building and distributing boilers for greenhouses. When rising energy costs caused many greenhouse businesses to suffer, Russell began to ship coal. His shrewd business acumen allowed Kurt Weiss Greenhouses to create a vertically and horizontally integrated business.
Hard work and determination increased the company’s revenue by more than 110% over 40 years and included 18 locations spread over Long Island, Canada, upstate New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Florida. At its peak in the early 2000s, the company was ranked as the largest greenhouse operation in North America, with more than 12.5 million heated square feet of growing space and approximately 2,600 employees. A large part of Russell’s legacy lives on through the company, now in its fifth generation.
Russell owned V & V Noordland Greenhouses, an engineering and construction company that was responsible for building greenhouses around the world, notably the construction of “The Land” at Epcot Center in 1983. He also built greenhouses at his beloved alma mater, Cornell University.
In addition to his key business responsibilities, Russell was an industry leader. He served a term as President of the Long Island Flower Growers Association, was a member of the Board of Directors of Rabobank, and was on the Board of Directors of the Seeley Conference Board at Cornell University.
“Russell was an impressive man. I was always amazed when he walked in the door of our Center carrying a sick plant to show our plant pathologist, Margery Daughtrey,” says Dr. Mark Bridgen, Director of Cornell’s LIHREC. “What was the president of such a powerful greenhouse operation doing delivering his own plant samples for diagnosis? Russell was always interested in learning, and he wanted to hear directly what Margery or Dan Gilrein, our entomologist, had to say about how he could manage a pest problem. He gathered data before making decisions. We are extremely grateful for Russell’s family’s generosity, and think that this is a great way to honor and remember Russell as well as to celebrate our Center’s 100th anniversary.”
Russell is survived by his wife, Teresa, and his children Kirk, Wayne, Wendy and Anna, as well as 15 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. His son Douglas Weiss predeceased him.
Subscribe to eNewsletter
