B.S. - Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design, 1980 Area of emphasis: Ornamental Horticulture

Bob became Director of the San Antonio Botanical Garden 2006 after leaving a 13 year run at Nashville's Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art. Bob is working on new programming, a new Master Site Plan, and re-tooling the operations of the Garden so it can be a major asset to the City of San Antonio. Operated under the auspices of the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, the San Antonio Botanical Garden founded in 1980, encompasses 33 acres in the center of the city of San Antonio, 555 Funston @ North New Braunfels Avenue.

In his former role at the Cheekwood Botanical garden, Bob was responsible for all development and maintenance of the Garden’s 55 acres. From master planning, to garden design, to exhibit development, Bob enjoys the passion of public horticulture. In addition, he works with hundreds of volunteers to make the Cheekwood Gardens a showpiece. Bob worked hard since arriving at Cheekwood to make the gardens not only a destination for visitors throughout the country, but also for the local and regional community to embrace with pride and excitement.

Prior to returning to his hometown of Nashville in 1993, Bob was Director of Horticulture with the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.

Bob attributes his love of gardening, horticulture and especially public gardening to his early days at The University of Tennessee, then the Department of Ornamental Horticulture & Landscape Design, now the Department of Plant Sciences. The professional contacts, classes, and many friends he met while at UTK made a tremendous impression on him. To this day, Bob values the time spent at UTK and regularly visits the campus to teach in several classes.