Mary E. Gerritsen, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
San Mateo, CA. Former Chief Financial Officer, Orchid Conservation Alliance. Former Chair, San Francisco. Orchid Society Conservation Committee. Former President, Peninsula Orchid Society. Board Member, Orchid Digest. Member, Orchid Specialist Group, IUCN. Consulting Professor of Vascular Surgery, Stanford. Independent consultant to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Formerly in senior management at Exelixis, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Genentech and Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Author of several orchid books (Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World; Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species (1st and 2nd editions), A Bay Area Guide to Orchids and Their Culture, The American Orchid Society Guide to Orchids and Their Culture) with co-author and photographer, Ron Parsons. Orchid interests: cool and intermediate growing miniature orchids, preservation of orchid habitats.
Peter Tobias, Ph.D.
Director
Encintas, CA. Former president and CEO, Orchid Conservation Alliance, Former chair, San Diego County Orchid Society Conservation Committee; Member, Orchid Specialist Group, IUCN; Former Board Member, Orchid Digest; Recipient Orchid Digest Medal of Honor, 2018. Retired Associate Professor of Biochemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA. Orchid interests: Conservation, landscaping with orchids, orchid focused ecotourism.
Ron Kaufmann, Ph.D.
Director and Secretary
Our Team
Steve Beckendorf, PH.D.
Director Emeritus
Berkeley, CA. Member, Orchid Specialist Group, IUCN. Former Member, American Orchid Society Conservation Committee. Former Board Member, The Orchid Digest Corporation. Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley. Orchid interests: Orchids of the Andes, especially Odontoglossums, Cyrtochilums, Masdevallias; preservation of orchid-rich cloud forests.
Roberta Fox
Chief Financial Officer and Membership Chair
Costa Mesa CA. Fascination of Orchids International Show co-chair 1995-current. Active board member and officer of multiple orchid societies. Retired database administrator and business systems analyst. Orchid interests: Growing orchids, particularly species, with an emphasis on identifying and studying those that can grow outdoors in coastal southern California.
Candace Hollinger
Social Media Coordinator
Jack Lothrop
Newsletter Editor
San Francisco, CA. Member, San Francisco Orchid Society. Private equity investor at Lateral Investment Management, former venture capital and growth equity investor at GSV Ventures and BlackRock. Graduate of Emory University, studying finance and physics. Orchid interests: Cattleya Alliance, miniature orchids that can grow in an apartment.