Toby Pennington was installed as the inaugural David and Dorothy Kemper Professor on November 19, 2025. The program included a welcome from Feng Sheng Hu, the Richard G. Engelsmann Dean of Arts & Sciences and Lucille P. Markey Distinguished Professor, and remarks from Ram Dixit, biology chair. Chancellor Andrew Martin performed the installation and medallion ceremony, as well as a shadowbox presentation for donors David and Dorothy Kemper. Pennington’s role is a joint appointment with the Missouri Botanical Garden.

In his remarks, titled “Nature Always Wins: Why Biodiversity Matters in Times of Climate Crisis,” Pennington discussed the importance of understanding and exploring biodiversity in Brazil’s tropical dry forests, which are home to more plant species than the Amazon rainforest. Pennington said the key to understanding biological resilience lies in identifying, cataloguing, and studying the characteristics of plant species in these dry ecosystems.

“What always amazes me as a botanist is why, in the 21st century, we don't have a list of species of the plants that feed us and clothe us and provide most of our medicines,” Pennington said in his address. “If we can describe those plant species properly, we can understand where they grow… and that's the kind of research program I'd like to pursue with WashU, the Garden, and the community here in St Louis.”

Pennington is one of two new biology hires with joint appointments at the Missouri Botanical Garden and WashU. Lúcia Lohmann, the Garden’s president and a world-renowned botanist and conservationist known for her extensive research in the Amazon, was installed earlier this fall as the George Engelmann Professor of Botany in the Department of Biology.

“Toby Pennington’s arrival is a vital part of our commitment to establishing St. Louis as a plant science powerhouse,” Dean Hu said. “His joint appointment with WashU and the Missouri Botanical Garden is a significant milestone, and I’m so proud that he chose to join us.”

About Toby Pennington

Toby Pennington is the inaugural David and Dorothy Kemper Professor at WashU and senior vice president for biodiversity research and collections at the Missouri Botanical Garden. He was most recently a professor of tropical plant diversity at the University of Exeter and an honorary professor at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Pennington earned his bachelor’s degree in botany at the University of Oxford, after which he worked for a short period as the research assistant to the director at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. During this period at Kew, he was able to arrange doctoral studies on the taxonomy of Andira, a group of Latin American trees in the legume family, which took him back to Oxford and also involved Kew Gardens, Cornell University, and fieldwork in Brazil. After completing his PhD, Toby worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for more than three decades, including serving as head of the tropical diversity research section and deputy director of the science division. In 2017, he moved to the University of Exeter to increase his experience in higher education, while maintaining a partial research position in Edinburgh. Pennington’s research focuses on the plant biodiversity of Latin America, where he has worked across 10 countries. In recent years, he has specialized in the biodiversity, biogeography, and ecology of dry biomes in the tropics. Much of his work has implications for conservation and livelihoods, including Projects that focus on tree-based agriculture and ecosystem restoration. All his work is grounded in the collections-based science of plant taxonomy. His broad experience and research will strengthen the key ties between WashU and the Missouri Botanical Garden and more widely with other St. Louis partners in the Living Earth Collaborative.

Pennington has supervised more than 80 graduate students, including many from Latin America. He is president-elect of the International Biogeography Society and founded and co-leads the Latin American Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Floristic Network (DRYFLOR), which comprises more than 100 scientists and conservationists from across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Pennington arrived in St. Louis in August with his wife Vanessa, who is a PhD botanist and a jeweler. They are enjoying the warm welcome from the St. Louis community. Their two boys, Lucas and Alex, are studying at the University of Bangor, Wales, and Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, respectively.

About David and Dorothy Kemper

Through their long-standing support of the arts and deep commitment to education, David and Dorothy have made a profound difference at WashU and beyond. In 2004, the couple made a gift to the university with James M. Kemper Jr., David’s father, and the William T. Kemper Foundation to advance the study and appreciation of art. In 2006, the university named its new museum building in memory of David’s mother, Mildred Lane Kemper. A series of subsequent gifts from the family and the foundation have helped the museum build upon its reputation as one of the nation’s leading university art collections. They provided funds to endow the museum’s directorship and acquire notable artwork.

David also served on the oversight committee focused on transforming the east end of the university’s Danforth Campus, which was completed in 2019. In September 2022, the David and Dorothy Kemper Professorship was established as a joint appointment in Arts & Sciences and at the Missouri Botanical Garden. In 1991, David succeeded his father as chair and chief executive officer of Commerce Bancshares and Commerce Bank. The bank expanded throughout the Midwest during his tenure. Today, he is the company’s executive chairman. His son John became CEO in 2018.

David joined the WashU Board of Trustees in 1987 and served as vice chair from 2001 to 2004, as chair from 2004 to 2009, and as vice chair again from 2009 to the present. He became a distinguished trustee in 2019. David is a member of the board of trustees of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Saint Louis Art Museum, and of the board of directors of Greater St. Louis, Inc. He graduated cum laude from Harvard University and earned a master’s degree in English literature from Oxford University and a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.