Spongberg, Stephen A.

Stephen Alan Spongberg was born October 15, 1942 in Rockford, Illinois. He received a Ph. D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in 1971. Dr. Spongberg began working at the Arnold Arboretum in 1970 in the position of assistant curator, working on the Generic Flora of the Southeastern United States project as a postdoctoral graduate. Starting in 1976, Dr. Spongberg worked as a horticultural taxonomist. He also undertook the position of editor of the Journal of the Arnold Arboretum in 1979, a position he held for 11 years. Dr. Spongberg participated in an Arnold Arboretum expedition to Japan and Korea in 1977. Between August and November of 1980, he took part in the Sino-American Botanical Expedition to Western Hubei Province, in the People's Republic of China. The Sino-American Botanical Expedition marked the first cooperative venture between Chinese and American scientists. In edition to his work for the Arnold Arboretum. Dr. Spongberg served as a consultant for the World Health Organizatio and was active in a variety of professional organizations, including the Botanical Society of America, American Society of Plant Taxodermists, Royal Horticultural Society, and Sigma Xi. When he retired from the Arnold Arboretum in 1998, Dr. Spongberg became the director of the Polly Hill Arboretum on Martha's Vineyard.