Harold Koopowitz

Harold Koopowitz – Biography

Harold grew up in South Africa where he attended university, majoring in both Botany and Zoology. He then completed a doctorate at UCLA in California in 1968. A professor at the University of California at Irvine since graduating, he was also the Director of the UCI Arboretum for twenty years. He is now Professor Emeritus of Biology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCI, where he did research on conservation and ecology.

He gardens in Tustin, in Orange County, California and is well known internationally for breeding both Slipper Orchids and Miniature Daffodils. He is Editor Emeritus for the Orchid Digest which he edited for ten years and is still on the editorial committee of that Journal. Currently, Harold is first Vice-President of the American Daffodil Society.

He has travelled widely in Africa, Europe and South America doing research on orchids and other wild flowers.

Harold has written over a hundred books and papers on conservation as well as breeding orchids. His most recent orchid book is Tropical Slipper Orchids and he is working on a new book on slipper orchids as well as several other manuscripts. He has just published “Orchid Tales” a collection of short stories that all involve orchids.

Harold has been honored by being a recipient of the Herbert Medal from the International Bulb Society; the Orchid Digest Medal for meritorious service to orchids; the Ralph B. White Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society; the Gold Medal from the American Daffodil Society and recently the Gold Medal from the American Orchid Society and the Westonbirt Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society.