Arboretum director resigning

Morris Arboretum director William Klein, who joined the University arboretum in 1977 as its first full-time director and strengthened its academic ties to the University, will leave in March to take a position in Miami. Klein said yesterday that while "the work at an arboretum is never done," the Chestnut Hill institution has become over the past thirteen years both a "vital part of the intellectual life" of the University as well as a public garden for the community. "What we have managed to do . . . is to redefine the nature of the University arboretum both in terms of its academic connections with the University and also its connections with the community," Klein said. Klein will serve as the the director of the Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami. He said the position at Fairchild, the largest tropical botanical garden in the continental United States, will be particularly interesting with the increasing concerns over the destruction of tropical forests. President Sheldon Hackney said in a statement yesterday that Klein created a valuable program of continuing education at the arboretum and that he built a "strong and productive" working relationship with the arboretum's surrounding community. Klein said that he would like more students to visit or become acquainted with the arboretum either through coursework or informal visits. He called it an "enormous resource" for students. Horticulture chairperson Paul Meyer, who has known Klein during all his thirteen years here, said Klein "led the charge" in increasing the strength and diversity of education and research programs at the arboretum. "He had a strong vision for the arboretum which we all shared," Meyer said. "That's the thing we're really going to miss." Staff Writer Roxanne Patel contributed to this story.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.