Walter Stephen Judd

I had the privilege of knowing Walt for many years. We worked together for several decades at UF teaching classes and collaborating on books, papers and mentoring students. Walt´s knowledge of plants was legendary. I admired and appreciated his enthusiasm for botany. That excitement was inspiring. It was always a pleasure teaching and working with Walt. We all miss him.

Walter was a friend in Elementary School ar New Lothrop. We shared the same birthday. My Mom and his Mom were best friends. I remember a pet fox at Walt's house. He will be missed.

I met Walter in my first year of my PhD and he became one of the most influential mentors of my career. I took plant taxonomy and "freaky families" from him, where he shared his encyclopedic knowledge of plants with us. I TA'd for him, and he sent us all over Gainesville to collect plants. He was on my committee, where I benefitted from his gentle wisdom as he helped guide my PhD. We even published a new species together (Conradina cygniflora). Walter had an infectious enthusiasm for plants and the natural world and was passionate about teaching the next generation of botanists. He was such a kind and wonderful friend and colleague and left an indelible mark on so many!

I first met Dr. Judd when I took his tropical botany course in Miami back in 2000. I enjoyed it so much, that I then became a master´s student with him as my mentor at UF. His enthusiasm for plants was so inspiring and his knowledge of species was vast. During my first semester, I took his class of "find, press, and identify 300 different species of plants in Florida." I got to know more of that state than most native Floridians and I learned so many plants. What a genius educator Dr. Judd was! And he was such a kind person. He really cared about his students´ well being.