The Arnold Arboretum is pleased to announce that Dr. William (“Ned”) Friedman has been named as its next director. Ned’s appointment at the Arboretum will officially begin on January 1, 2011, and he will also be a tenured professor of organismic and evolutionary biology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.

Ned currently serves on the faculty of the University of Colorado in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology. An outstanding research scientist and educator, he intends to foster a broadly integrative plant research program at the Arboretum. Ned is also firmly committed to the Arboretum’s role as a public museum, and will strive to strengthen the institution’s partnerships with the City of Boston, local schools, museums, environmental organizations, and community-focused groups. An ardent plant enthusiast, Ned looks forward to faithfully stewarding the Arboretum’s remarkable collections and historic landscape as director.

This winter, when you visit the Arboretum while attending one of the many classes and lectures offered, be sure to stop by and say hello to Ned. Photo by Justine Ide/Harvard Gazette.