Dr. Dirr’s Tree Spotlight: Liriodendron tulipifera (Tuliptree)

BS and MS, horticulture, The Ohio State University

Ph.D., plant physiology, University of Massachusetts

Currently retired, professor emeritus, University of Georgia.

Taught courses in woody landscape plants, plant propagation, and general horticulture.

Research activities cut a wide swath including salt tolerance, plant propagation, and plant breeding.

Introduced over 200 plants to cultivation, with 29 being patented while at the University.

Started a breeding company with two partners in 2006 and sold same in 2015 to Bailey Nursery, MN. At time of sale, the company, Plant Introductions, Inc., had generated 61 plant patents.

Written 8 books. The Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, now the 6th edition (2009), is the most widely used text and reference book in the United States.

Presently completing a North American tree book with Keith Warren, Schmidt Nursery, Boring, OR. Includes all major commercial species and cultivars and the newest introductions teetering on the horizon.

Was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors in 2011 and received the Inventor of the Year Award from the University of Georgia IN 2009.