A native of St. Louis and a graduate of University of Missouri graduate, Jim Cocos was serving as City Horticulturist/Parks Superintendent in Savannah, Georgia in 1994. At that time, he was offered the position of Landscape Construction Supervisor to oversee the installation of a number of large, new garden projects that were planned at the Missouri Botanical Garden. In 1997, Jim was promoted to Operations Manager for the Horticulture Division and served in that position until the retirement of Dr. G. Shannon Smith in 2005. After Dr. Smith's retirement, he was promoted to Vice President of Horticulture. Jim was new to the botanical garden world when he arrived at Missouri Botanical Garden. He thanks Shannon Smith for urging him to become involved in the public horticulture field's primary organization, the American Public Gardens Association. Jim found that the more APGA events he attended the more valuable his participation became, due in large part to the valuable relationships that have resulted from his involvement. Jim is currently serving on the Program Selection Committee for the 2008 Annual Conference and also serves as Co-Chair of the Host Committee for the 2009 Annual Conference to be held in St. Louis. He was honored to be asked to serve as a member of the APGA Board of Directors and hopes that his participation can help to continue the good things that the APGA is accomplishing for its institutional and individual members. Jim said, "It is exciting to see how many different "user groups" are utilizing the many services that our organization has to offer." Please join us in welcoming Jim to the APGA Board of Directors.