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January 26, 1998
Ronald A. Enomoto, former owner of Enomoto Roses, Inc., of Half Moon Bay, has been named interim director of the UCSC Arboretum, effective January 1, 1998. Enomoto will hold the position for 18 months, said Executive Vice Chancellor R. Michael Tanner, who announced the appointment last week.
"Ron Enomoto will be a strong champion of the UCSC Arboretum, and we look forward to working with him during this transition period," said Tanner. Enomoto succeeds Professor Ray Collett, who stepped down as director of the Arboretum on January 1 (Currents article).
A former member of the UC Board of Regents, Enomoto has a strong record in business, education, and innovation. Among the new techniques he has introduced to his nursery business are Internet marketing, pesticide-free rose growing, and an energy-saving computerized system he developed to control the greenhouse environment, which is now sold worldwide.
"I am very pleased to have this opportunity to serve as interim director of the UCSC Arboretum," said Enomoto, who was part of a five-member blue-ribbon team that performed an assessment of the UCSC Arboretum last fall. "The Arboretum is a truly remarkable garden, and I look forward to helping build the resources that will support this superb botanical collection."
Enomoto will be part of a team charged with developing a transition plan for the Arboretum, the premier botanical garden in the Monterey Bay Area, featuring an extensive collection of plants from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, as well as a California native plant garden and the most complete collection of conifers in the world.
Enomoto will work with Lynda Goff, professor of biology and special assistant to the chancellor, Arboretum manager Brett Hall, garden staff and volunteers, the Arboretum Associates, and faculty. The campus is currently developing an endowment that will support the Arboretum's general operating expenses; it is halfway toward its goal of matching a $500,000 pledge.