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Grace Elton
Executive Director, Sarah P. Duke Gardens · Durham, North Carolina
Accomplished public horticulture executive Grace Elton has been named the next Executive Director of Sarah P. Duke Gardens, a botanic garden in the heart of Duke University that inspires transformational learning, promotes wellness, and builds community.
Grace brings extensive leadership experience in public horticulture, garden management, education, and community engagement. She joins Duke Gardens from New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, Massachusetts, where she has served as Chief Executive Officer since 2017. During her tenure, she increased the garden’s annual budget by 78 percent, annual visitation by 81 percent, and membership by 47 percent. She also led the largest comprehensive capital campaign in the garden’s history, raising more than $31 million to support a new children’s garden, infrastructure and accessibility improvements, an expansion of the garden’s physical footprint, and growth of its endowment.
Previously, Grace served as Director of Horticulture at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia, where she led horticultural operations, managed an extensive plant collection, and coordinated major garden and collection expansions. Earlier in her career, she was Arboretum Supervisor and an Adjunct Professor in the Landscape Architecture and Horticulture Department at Temple University’s Ambler Arboretum. She also studied botanic garden education, practical horticulture, and landscape design at leading institutions throughout the United Kingdom as a recipient of the Garden Club of America’s Martin McLaren Horticultural Scholar Award.
An active leader in the public gardens field, Grace has served on the Board of Directors of the American Public Gardens Association, including as Treasurer, and has held board and civic leadership roles with organizations in the Worcester, Massachusetts, region. Her professional recognition includes the University of Delaware’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award and multiple honors from the Worcester Business Journal.
Grace earned a Master of Science in Public Horticulture with a Certificate in Museum Studies through the Longwood Graduate Program at the University of Delaware. She also holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida, where she specialized in public gardens management and graduated cum laude.
Sarah P. Duke Gardens is located in the heart of Duke University and serves as a place for learning, wellness, community connection, and engagement with the natural world. As Executive Director, Grace will build on the Gardens’ strong foundation and the momentum created by the recently completed Garden Gateway while working with staff, volunteers, supporters, students, and community partners to shape its next chapter.