When Zane O. Gresham ’70 retired after a four-decade international law career in San Francisco, he wished “to participate in the public realm for public benefit.”

Given his many pro-bono projects for the Nature Conservancy, when he learned that three iconic city institutions—the Botanical Garden, the Conservatory of Flowers, and the Japanese Tea Garden—were merging into the Gardens of Golden Gate Park, Gresham lent his strategic and legal expertise. He joined the new organization’s board in 2022.

Connecting people to the planet

“I was particularly impressed by the mission of the new Gardens to connect people to plants, the planet, and to each other,” he says. “It sits at the intersection of environment, health, science, education, and civic service.”

He has dwelt at that intersection since his undergraduate days at Johns Hopkins, where he graduated with a degree in behavioral science, the interdisciplinary major now called behavioral biology.

“I had an exposure to a wonderful array of hard sciences, social sciences, and the humanities,” he says. “That conditioned my mind in a positive way to be open to things that were not monochromatic.”

I had an exposure to a wonderful array of hard sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. That conditioned my mind in a positive way to be open to things that were not monochromatic.”

Zane O. Gresham

Nothing is less monochromatic than the gardens. Gresham says his continued involvement cultivates the interdisciplinarity instilled by a childhood following his father’s government service career around the world and then his intellectual blossoming at Johns Hopkins. “There was consistent encouragement always to seek new knowledge and understanding of the world around us,” he says.