Dahms, Robert Jr.

About Robert Dahms, Jr.

On campus, there is a Kousa Dogwood dedicated to Robert “Bob” Dahms, Jr. He was born in Iowa on May 14, 1949, and eventually moved to Maryland, in which he lived for 24 years. Robert Dahms, Jr. earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Maryland and was the Assistant Director of the Physics Department.¹ For this department, Dahms managed purchasing and safety for many years. He was a cherished colleague and alumnus.² In his personal life, Bob Dahms enjoyed the outdoors, gardening with his wife, Anita, playing with his grandchildren, and was very interested in the Civil War. He passed suddenly on June 23, 2013 due to a heart attack.¹

About the Kousa Dogwood

The tree dedicated to Robert Dahms, Jr. is located on the North side of the Physical Sciences Complex, across from the farm. It is a kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa), a small, deciduous flowering tree that can grow up to 30 feet tall. The kousa dogwood has a native range in Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan and features a characteristic brown and tan camouflage pattern on its trunk of exfoliating bark. It flowers from May to June, with four white, pointed petal-like bracts, which are modified leaves that are commonly referred to as the flower portion. However, the true flower is small and yellowish-green and housed in the center of the bracts.³ The kousa dogwood produces pinkish-red fruit - you may be lucky to see some songbirds around the tree in the summer that are attracted to the fruit! The tree grows in a rounded shape with dark green, oval-shaped leaves that turn beautiful shades of purple and scarlet in the fall.⁴