AUSTIN, Texas - UT Austin has selected the new executive director of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the official botanic garden and arboretum of Texas.
Lee Clippard has been interim director since May and previously worked for seven years in center leadership, serving as deputy director and the head of communications and guest experience.
Lee Clifford (UT Austin)
Clippard has been an integral part of efforts that have increased Wildflower Center annual visits by more than 50%, increased revenue from donations and memberships, and expanded awareness of native plants, says the university. He recently established a new Department of Science and Conservation.
Clippard received a bachelor’s degree in biology from UT Austin and a master’s degree in entomology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining the Wildflower Center, he was the senior director of communications for the university’s College of Natural Sciences from 2005 to 2014.
In September, Clippard worked with the College of Natural Sciences to designate the Wildflower Center an official UT biological field station. Prior to becoming interim director, he oversaw marketing and communications for the opening of the Wildflower Center’s Luci and Ian Family Garden, special events and exhibitions such as Luminations and Fortlandia, and the national launch of a sustainability ratings program led by the center, the Sustainable SITES Initiative. His team helped grow annual attendance at the center from 140,000 people to 215,000, and it publishes the award-winning Wildflower magazine.
Clippard succeeds Patrick Newman, who began a new post as CEO and president of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas and Fort Worth Botanic Garden last spring.
Founded in 1982, the Wildflower Center is named for Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady and a passionate advocate for beautification, plants and the environment. With her support, the Wildflower Center and its work to advance sustainability came under the umbrella of Johnson’s alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin, in 2006.
Today, the Wildflower Center hosts more than 200,000 visitors a year on its 248 acres, which include cultivated gardens, an arboretum, dedicated research areas and almost 1,000 species of Texas native plants.
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