Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

It is with happiness and sadness that we announce that our colleague and friend Frank Reynolds has decided to retire—happy for Frank—sad for us. His last day was 31 August. Frank has quietly worked at the Institute 40 years. Director Emeritus Robert Kiger and I remember standing in the front office when Frank walked off the elevator and asked if there were any openings. He had worked here under the first Director, George Lawrence. We swooped him up as Operations Assistant, then Operations Manager and finally Graphics Manager. Frank made lists for everything we owned. Dozens of baby food jars emptied by his three children are tucked away all over the Institute, filled with who knows what! Every nut and bolt we own—and there are hundreds of pounds—is carefully organized. Frank has the mind of an engineer. He solved problems constructed by the rest of the staff. His contraptions to photograph difficult objects were epic. Then there was his photography, some of the finest work I have seen. There is no better photographer of botanical art around, and he cannot be replaced—period. I asked him what was his greatest accomplishment or most rewarding project during his long career at the Hunt Institute. Without hesitation he said the Sessé & Mociño CD.

T. D. Jacobsen
Director