After a long career in the Department of Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, Dr. David Creech has served since 2007 as the Director of SFA Gardens. The 138-acre SFA Gardens is an umbrella for numerous theme gardens and collections of trees, shrubs, vines, herbaceous perennials and fruit. These serve as a valuable germplasm resource for the Gulf South. Dr. Creech received his BSc from Texas A&M University in 1970, his MSc from Colorado State University in 1972 and his PhD from Texas A&M University in 1978.

Since arriving at SFASU in 1978, Creech’s research interests have been varied and include urban tree evaluation, blueberry and golden kiwifruit evaluation, horticultural crop nutrition studies, new plant introductions for the ornamental horticulture industry, endangered native plant rescue, research and reintroduction and finding sustainable solutions to environmental horticultural concerns. He is the author of numerous scholarly and trade articles, and he has accumulated a long list of international consultancies since 1981 to Pakistan, Guatemala, Mexico, Nepal, Israel, Chile, New Zealand and China. In 2022, he received the ASHS Career Award for Outstanding International Horticulturalist which recognizes a member who has made an outstanding and valuable contribution to international horticultural science, education, research and/or outreach for a period of 10 or more years. Dr. Creech has served as president of the Native Plant Society of Texas, the Southern Region American Society of Horticulture Science, and the International Plant Production Society Southern Region.