Newly-instated on January 1, 2011 as the director of Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, William “Ned” Friedman, a tenured organismic and evolutionary biology professor at Harvard, is only the eighth person to sever as director of the Arnold Arboretum in 138 years, according to boston.com. In an effort to reach out to the public, Friedman has begun a New Director’s Lecture Series at the Arnold Arboretum. Taking place in the Hunnewell Lecture Hall (located at 125 Arborway in Boston), the lectures are free and open to the public, but if you plan on attending these lectures, you are required to register in advance. Contact Pamela Thompson at 617-384-5277 if you are interested in doing so. Speakers featured in this lecture series include Robert Robichaux of the University of Arizona, Alan Townsend of the University of Colorado, and U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III. For details about the New Director’s Lecture Series (including a lecture schedule, information about the topics that will be discussed, and a list of the speakers’ names), click here.

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