Melanie Davies

Board Member

Melanie first encountered the Dunn Gardens at a lecture on its history and the role of the Olmstead Brothers in its design and evolution. As a landscape architect in the Pacific Northwest, the impact of the Olmsted legacy has always been a major interest of hers. Like everyone else who initially visits the gardens, it was love at first sight, with its stately trees, extensive plant collection and open space. She holds a BA in political science from Vassar College and an MLA from Cornell University.

Melanie has practiced landscape architecture in the PNW and the Seattle area for over 40 years. Her work has focused on public campuses, parks, streetscapes, green infrastructure and affordable housing. She brings a keen interest in creating open spaces that provide accessible and inclusive experiences, and enhance the understanding and appreciation of natural ecosystems.

Susan

Sue Dunn

Treasurer

In 1983 Susan was invited to a party at the home of Ginna Dunn and her son, Patrick, who she had met a few weeks earlier. She and Patrick married in 1986 and purchased the property from Ginna in March 1991. She enjoyed living next to Uncle Ed Dunn during the last six months of his life. The rest is history.

Susan served in the 10-99 Foundation and Behind the Badge Foundation as Board Member and Treasurer. She chaired the Construction Committee for the Law Enforcement Memorial on the Capitol campus in Olympia. She was an advisor/staff director for many state level boards while in state service.

She co-owned two small retail businesses in the 1970s and early 1980s while also employed in state government. She held management or staff consultant roles from Olympia headquarters for 25 of her 30 years in state government before she retired in 2001. Since then she has served as Vice-President of the public affairs consulting firm she owns with Pat Dunn.

Katherine Dunn

Katherine Dunn

Board Member

Katherine grew up in Seattle, WA in the Dunn Gardens playing on the Great Lawn. She went to Wheaton College in Massachusetts and graduated with a major in Economics and minor in Hispanic Studies. After graduation, Kat moved back to Seattle and began working for Nordstrom. She currently works for the Nordstrom Rack Merchandising Group as an Assistant Buyer in Women’s Shoes. Kat says, “In my spare time I enjoy trying new Seattle restaurants as well as old favorites!”

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Janet Egger

Secretary

Janet Egger comes to Dunn Gardens after retiring from an extensive career in horticulture. She holds a B.S. in Botany and an M.S. in Horticulture from UC Davis. Her most recent job was as head plant breeder for Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. in Canby, Oregon from 2000 to 2018. Plants Janet bred for Terra Nova Nurseries include Heuchera,  Heucherella, Tiarella, Sedum, Kniphofia, Agastache, Penstemon, Phygelius among others. She wrote and managed their plant patents and plant data base as well.  Her email address includes the word orchid, a reflection of her long standing interest in plants. Dunn Gardens is delighted to have such an accomplished horticulturalist join our board.

Connor Hood

Board Member

Originally from Bellevue WA, Connor moved to Seattle after attending Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, where he studied Economics and Math. Since graduation he’s worked as a Software Engineer at several local tech companies, most recently Redfin.com.

Connor is an avid home gardener who enjoys designing & implementing permaculture systems in his yard in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood. He is particularly interested in the challenges and opportunities afforded by our native biome, and how to create robust small-scale ecosystems.

Outside of gardening, Connor is an avid musician and runner. He also coached youth soccer for his childhood club for 6 years.

Connor joined the board in the Summer of 2023. He plans to draw on past experiences in event planning and organizational advisory to help vitalize Dunn Gardens’ event calendar & membership experience.

Gil Joynt

Board Member

Gil became acquainted with Ed Dunn from the early 1980s at garden parties hosted by Ed’s childhood friend and First Hill neighbor Webb W. Trimble. Webb and his wife Elizabeth were long time friends of the Joynt family. After the E.B. Dunn Historic Garden Trust was established in 1993 Gil became an early member. The Trust’s mission to protect and interpret the historic Olmsted-designed landscape was a good fit with Gil’s durable support for local heritage organizations such as Historic Seattle and MOHI as well as the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, which he served as board president. Since his retirement after thirty-three years in procurement contracts and audit at The Boeing Company he enjoys travel far and wide, playing tennis and serving as a docent at Dunn Gardens.

Ruth

Ruth Kagi

Board Member

Ruth Kagi’s mother was a good friend of Dort Bailey, whose home she now lives in. She remembers coming to the garden with her mom and spending time with Pat Dunn. Ruth is a member of the Washington House of Representatives, representing the 32nd district. She holds a BA from the University of Washington and an MPA from Syracuse University.

Ruth served as the Chair of the Center for Human Services Board in Shoreline; Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Washington, Chair of the Washington Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, Chair of the Seattle Commission on Children and Youth.  She also served on the Boards of Treehouse, the Shoreline Community College Foundation, and numerous other local human services commissions and boards. Prior to running for the legislature Ruth operated her own public policy consulting business. She also owns and manages a commercial property in Lynnwood.

Langdon Miller

Langdon Miller

Board Member

Langdon Miller, past-president, learned about the Dunn Gardens when he and his wife joined the Dunn Gardens tour of New Zealand where they got to know members of the Dunn Garden community. Langdon’s appreciation of plants and gardens dates to his adolescence His principal avocational interest remains gardening and he is delighting in the opportunity to learn new plants and a new climate zone in Seattle where he moved with his wife in 2010. Langdon was born in the Midwest, spent his early childhood in the Washington, DC area, and has been educated at institutions across the US and in the UK. His past work positions have taken him to Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey. Langdon, a physician, has worked as a pharmaceutical drug developer designing clinical trials for new therapies to treat cancer and genetic disorders. In the course of his work he has held senior leadership or company officer positions in government and in large and small biopharmaceutical companies. Currently, he consults for several biotechnology and venture capital companies. He has authored multiple regulatory documents, scientific publications, promotional presentations, and grant applications.

Chuck Ogburn

Chuck Ogburn

Vice President: Conservation

Chuck attended several Northwest Horticultural Society (NHS) events at the Dunn Gardens. During a Dunn Garden organized garden trip to New Zealand he met and got to know several Dunn Gardens board and staff members. Upon his return they recruited him to the Board.

Chuck has also been on the NHS Board for about 5 years. He currently serves as a Vice President and Chairperson for 3 committees including Finance and Budget, Plant Sale, and Board Development/Nominating.

Chuck’s career included Research Scientist and Laboratory Management in the University Of Washington Department Of Pathology for 32 years. Significant responsibilities included research project development and execution, grant writing and management of staff and laboratories for the study of the genetics and cell biology of aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Chuck holds a. B.S in Microbiology, B.S. in Botany, and M.S. in Pathology all from University of Washington.

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Alan Rowberg MD

Board Member

Alan Rowberg’s, interest in Dunn Gardens started in 2010, when he found the gardens on a map close to his sister-in-law’s house and asked about it.  After attending a few Dunn Gardens events, he was hooked and has enjoyed many events each year since then. With a background in technology, he is interested in how Dunn Gardens can continue to increase the value of its webpages and electronic and print communications, as well as continuing the tradition of conducting superb social and educational events for our community.

Alan received a B.S. in biology from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA, M.S. in computer science from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, and an M.D. in medicine from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA. After three years in the Army he spent 5 years with GE in the CT Scanner group, involved with advanced applications and marketing. He served on the faculty in Radiology at the University of Washington from 1982 to 1998, where he did research in image data compression, in addition to research into more general areas of Picture Archiving and Communications Systems, including workstation design, user interface evaluation, and patient databases. He then spent seven years as an independent consultant before joining Northwest Hospital, where he manages the computer system in Radiology.

Alan has been active in the Society for Computer Applications in Radiology (SCAR), including serving as its President, and is also involved in several healthcare informatics societies. He is Chair of Working Group 4 (Compression) of the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Committee.