Smith Appoints Plant Propagation Expert to Direct Botanic Garden

Michael Marcotrigiano, for 17 years a faculty member in the department of plant and soil sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is the new director of the Botanic Garden at Smith College.

An expert on plant propagation and ornamental plant breeding, Marcotrigiano is experienced in both the basic and applied aspects of horticulture. He is widely published in prominent science and horticulture journals on subjects ranging from leaf color variants in coleus to micropropagation of cranberries to the genetics of flowering tobacco. He earned a bachelor's degree from St. Francis College in New York and masters and doctoral degrees in horticulture from the University of Maryland.

In his new position, Marcotrigiano will oversee the college's gardens and greenhouses, directing a staff of 14. In addition, he will teach courses on horticulture, work with students on independent study projects and serve as a member of the department of biological sciences.

A native of New York, Marcotrigiano grew up in the shadow of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, an urban experience that gave him an appreciation for the importance of gardens and plants to the public. In his private life, he is an avid collector of rare landscape plants, whose extensive home gardens have been featured on numerous garden tours.

In coming to Smith, Marcotrigiano is looking forward to the chance to integrate the teaching, research and public outreach dimensions of his career.

"Smith's botanic garden has a worldwide reputation as one of the premier botanic gardens," he notes. "The historical significance of the facility cannot be overlooked, especially its history of joining science with aesthetics."

Since the opening of the college in 1875, Smith's entire campus has been planned and planted as a botanic garden and arboretum, originally designed by the landscape architecture firm of Frederick Law Olmsted. Today, the botanic garden encompasses 125 contiguous acres, including the Lyman Plant House, a conservatory with 12,000 square feet under glass, and a variety of specialty gardens containing some 7,000 types of labeled and mapped plants. The extensive collections and activities of the garden serve both the academic community and the public.

Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation's best liberal arts colleges. Enrolling 2,800 students from every state and 50 other countries, Smith is the largest undergraduate women's college in the United States.

August 30, 2000