ODU, Norfolk Botanical Garden Form Partnership Old Dominion University and the Norfolk Botanical Garden have announced the creation of the J. Robert Stiffler Chair of Horticulture and Botany, honoring Virginian-Pilot gardening columnist Robert Stiffler. The chair was made possible by a $1 million anonymous gift and marks the beginning of collaborative efforts between ODU and the Norfolk Botanical Garden to pursue activities in teaching and research related to botanical scholarship and practical horticultural applications in the Mid-Atlantic region. “The establishment of the J. Robert Stiffler Chair is a significant step toward ODU becoming recognized as a national leader in biological sciences and particularly in horticulture and botany,” said Richard Gregory ’80, dean of the College of Sciences. A national search for the chair is under way. “Ideally, we’re looking for someone who works on plants of interest to regional gardeners,” said Lytton Musselman, Mary Payne Hogan Professor of Botany and chair of ODU’s biological sciences department. “This will be the Garden’s first research position and it is an exciting step forward.” The chair, who will have office space at ODU and a greenhouse and research space at the Botanical Garden, will teach classes, supervise graduate students and conduct research. The author of “Gardening in Southeastern Virginia & Northeastern North Carolina: The Best of 20 Years of Gardening Advice,” Stiffler grew up in Iowa where he began gardening with his mother and grandmother at the age of 5. He earned a degree in English and worked in marketing and advertising and in the agricultural and horticultural products industry. The Navy called him to Virginia Beach, where he began writing gardening news for The Virginian-Pilot in 1975. He has worked at The Pilot ever since.