By Jason Peevy
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia has established an endowed
professorship in the College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences honoring legendary horticulturist and retired UGA
professor Michael A. Dirr.
The Michael A. Dirr Professorship for Woody Plant Instruction and
Introduction was approved by the University of System of Georgia
Board of Regents at its September meeting. It’s based in the CAES
Department of Horticulture.
The professorship has been filled by David Knauft, former CAES
associate dean for academic affairs. Knauft will maintain a woody
plant breeding and development program that supports the
interests of the horticulture industry.
CAES Dean and Director Scott Angle said Dirr is one of the
foremost authorities in woody ornamentals.
“Dirr’s influence has left a mark on the horticulture industry
and on the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
that will not soon be forgotten,” he said. “I’m very pleased that
his love for plants will remain at UGA through this professorship
and through Dr. Knauft.”
Now retired and living in North Carolina, Dirr ran a roadside
fruit and vegetable stand as a child. That interest evolved into
his passion for horticulture.
Dirr received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
ornamental horticulture operation and management from Ohio State
University in 1966 and 1971 and a Ph.D. in plant physiology from
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1972.
In 1979, he became the director of the State Botanical Garden of
Georgia, where he was instrumental in raising $3 million for the
new Visitor’s Center/Conservatory Complex and charted a course
for a plant collections development. He returned to teaching and
research at UGA in 1981 and was promoted to professor in ’84.
Dirr has published more than 300 scientific and popular
publications and has authored or coauthored seven books. His
“Manual of Woody Landscape Plants” is the most widely adopted
teaching and reference text in the country and has sold more than
250,000 copies.
With Charles Heuser, professor of horticultural physiology at
Penn State University, Dirr also produced “The Reference Manual
of Woody Plant Propagation,” which has become the standard
reference for plant propagators.
Dirr’s “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants” was honored by the
American Horticultural Society as one of the great garden books
of the past 75 years.
(Jason Peevy is the capital campaign communications
coordinator with the University of Georgia.)
