Dr. Raven has been director for more than 33 years and has been recognized for making it a world-class display, educational and botanical research institution devoted to conservation and the preservation of biodiversity. Described by TIME Magazine as a “Hero for the Planet,” he champions research around the world to preserve endangered plants and is a passionate and leading advocate for conservation, biodiversity and a sustainable environment.

Under Dr. Raven’s leadership, the Garden has become a leader in botanical research in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, with strong programs in North America as well. He has led the its team of more than 50 Ph.D. botanists in collecting about 200 new plant species every year under international protocols, and initiated training programs in most of the countries in which they work, to develop an indigenous scientific workforce where nearly none existed. He has written extensively about his concern of plant extinctions that are increasing exponentially and the means of averting them.

Dr. Raven is also the Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University in St. Louis; Chairman of the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration; Chair of the Division of Earth and Life Studies of the National Research Council, which includes biology, chemistry, and geology; and President of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. He is past President and Chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest organization of professional scientists in the world. (Source: Missouri Botanical Garden News Release, Jan 23, 2004)

Education

Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1960

B.S., University of California, Berkeley