ST. LOUIS, Mo. – September 9, 2024 — After a “rigorous” international search, the Missouri Botanical Garden has named its first woman president.

Starting early next year, Dr. Lúcia G. Lohmann will be the Garden’s next president, in addition to the next director and George Engelmann professor of botany at Washington University, according to a press release.

“I relate deeply to the Garden’s mission ‘to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life,’ as this reflects my own purpose in life,” Lohmann said.

Lohmann is a world-renowned botanist, conservation researcher and currently a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of São Paulo.

“She is accomplished and engaging, and will continue to elevate the Garden both as a cultural landmark and as a leader in science and conservation,” said Michael Stern, chair of the Garden’s Board of Trustees.

Lohmann will succeed current Garden President Dr. Peter Wyse Jackson, who will transition to president emeritus Jan. 2, 2025, according to the press release.

Wyse Jackson has served as president and director since 2010.

“My nearly 15 years at the Garden have been filled with incredible milestones from opening the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center to fulfilling our mission to save rare and endangered plants across the globe,” Wyse Jackson said.

“With her outstanding expertise, I know that Lúcia will continue to propel the Garden forward.”

Lohmann was born in Brazil and earned her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of São Paulo where she documented the biodiversity of the Amazon Basin.

She later earned her master’s and PhD degrees in ecology, evolution and systematics from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Lohmann studied the biogeography and evolutionary history of the trumpet-creeper plant family while at UMSL.

“Assuming the presidency at the Garden is a homecoming for me, full circle. I lived around 300 feet from the Garden for eight years during graduate school and obtained an exceptional botanical education here.”

Following her PhD, Lohmann worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development.

During her time there, Lohmann used specimens from the Garden’s globally renowned Herbarium and geospatial tools to address evolutionary, ecological and conservation questions.

She additionally held a faculty position in the department of botany at the University of São Paulo before her tenure at UC Berkeley.

Lohmann as an adjunct professor where her research focuses on neotropical biodiversity with a special focus on the Amazon Basin.

She also serves as executive director of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation and president of the International Association for Plan Taxonomy.