The board of directors of Huntsville Botanical Garden has named Sue Wagner its Chief Executive Officer.

Wagner succeeds Paula Steigerwald, who served as president and CEO for the past 17 years and announced her retirement in February. Wagner will start Oct. 1.

“I am excited to join the team at the Huntsville Botanical Garden,” said Wagner. “I am honored to steward this magnificent garden along with the community of supporters to build upon a firm foundation for future success. I look forward to working with the staff, board and volunteers to achieve great things moving forward.”

Wagner’s appointment comes as the result of a six-month nationwide search conducted by a community stakeholder search committee with the assistance of Kittleman and Associates, a national executive recruiting firm specializing in nonprofit organizations.

“After an exhaustive, nationwide search and reviewing a strong pool of candidates, the search committee is excited to have selected a world class executive who can build on the Huntsville Botanical Garden’s strong success and take it to even greater heights in the future,” said Search Committee Chairman Gary Bolton. “Paula Steigerwald has been a tremendous gift to our community and we are thrilled to find someone with Sue’s creativity, experience and passion to shepherd the Garden into a new era.”

Wagner comes to the garden from The Morton Arboretum, a 1,700-acre botanical garden 25 miles west of Chicago in Lisle, Illinois, where she served as vice president for education and information for the past decade. She brings extensive experience in leading public engagement initiatives that inspired people to connect with trees and nature, and supported organizational growth and sustainability.

Prior to joining the Morton Arboretum, Wagner served as vice president for exhibits and programs for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago where she renovated school and teacher programs and led the master plan for exhibition and planetarium dome show production.

Wagner began her career as an educator, teaching K-8 science, math and language arts with an emphasis on problem-based learning. During that time, she was awarded the National Science Foundation’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.