Paul W. Meyer, the retired F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum and Gardens, died on October 10. He was 71.

Mr. Meyer had an interest in plants since his childhood, which he cultivated by studying horticulture at Ohio State University and working at the University’s botanical garden and arboretum. After graduating from Ohio State, Mr. Meyer was interested in venturing abroad, so he took a position at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in the town of Romsey in Hampshire, England. After a year in England, Mr. Meyer returned to the United States, undertaking the Longwood Graduate Program at Longwood Gardens in the Philadelphia suburbs. After graduating in 1976, Mr. Meyer was recruited by the Morris Arboretum and Gardens as curator and director of horticulture.

As curator of Morris Arboretum and Gardens, Mr. Meyer oversaw the clearing of overgrown sections of the garden and the renewal of the living collections through expeditions to China and Korea. He exhibited “vision, talent, leadership, and charisma to inspire staff and donors to raise the Morris Arboretum to the level of beauty and inclusion that its founders, John and Lydia Morris envisioned,” said an online tribute by the arboretum. In 1991, following a national search, Mr. Meyer was appointed director of the Morris Arboretum.

Under Mr. Meyers’s direction, the arboretum built its botanical staff and its reputation for regional floristic studies. Mr. Meyer traveled on twelve expeditions to China, Korea, Taiwan, Armenia, and the Republic of Georgia, and other places, where he collected plants to help increase the arboretum’s genetic diversity, including plants that grow in stressful urban conditions. This unique diversity of plant life helped make the Morris Arboretum & Gardens a leader in its field. “It would be no overstatement to say that during Paul’s 43-year tenure at the Morris, 28 years as its leader, he transformed a quiet garden on the edge of the city into a vibrant, world-class public institution that now welcomes more than 170,000 visitors per year,” said current F. Otto Haas Executive Director Bill Cullina in a tribute.

Mr. Meyer and his wife, Debra (Debbie) Rodgers, personally endowed two funds at the arboretum that have been supplemented by contributions from other individuals in their honor: the Paul Meyer and Debra L. Rodgers Study-Travel Endowment and the Paul Meyer and Debra L. Rodgers Historic Preservation Endowment Fund. In 2022, Mr. Meyer received the Veitch Memorial Medal, an international prize given annually by the Royal Horticultural Society in Great Britain to “persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement of the science and practice of horticulture.”

“Paul put his stamp on every inch of the Morris Arboretum & Gardens,” said Mr. Cullina. “From the carefully preserved historic features to the iconic visitor experiences and the curated and meticulously tended living collections, Paul’s love and commitment to Morris is felt in every acre. We give Paul our deepest thanks for leaving us this beautiful, irreplaceable public garden.”

He is survived by his wife, Debra (Debbie) Rodgers; his brother, Gary Meyer (Susan); his niece, Katie Alimov (Davron); his nephew, John Meyer (Chelsea); his brothers-in-law Bob Rodgers (Pattie) and Gary Rodgers (Deb) and their families; and a host of other family members and friends. A celebration of life is planned for a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Meyer-Rodgers Study Travel Endowment at the Morris Arboretum and Gardens (http://givingpages.upenn.edu/PaulMeyer) or the Friends of Pastorius Park (https://www.friendsofpastorius.org/), where Mr. Meyer was an active volunteer in retirement.