Patrick Herendeen is a botanist and paleontologist interested in the evolutionary history of plants. Before joining the Chicago Botanic Garden in 2008 he was on the faculty at George Washington University and a program officer at the National Science Foundation. Pat has considerable experience in national and international conference planning. He served as Program Director for the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and was involved in planning of the annual Botany conference for eight years. He has also organized other smaller conferences and symposia. He was appointed as Secretary of the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS) in 2016 and has served as Chair since 2017. IABMS is the organization charged with ensuring the ongoing continuance and success of the International Botanical Congresses (IBC).