David H. Byrne is a retired Professor in the Dept. of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University. Dr. Byrne did his undergraduate work at Rutgers University in the area of Plant Sciences and graduate studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in the field of Plant Breeding and Biometry with minors in Plant Pathology and Entomology. He spent two years in Colombia, South America at CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, International Center of Tropical Agriculture).
In 1983, Dr. Byrne assumed the duties of Stone Fruit Breeder in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University, where he released numerous peach varieties.
Over the years, Dr. Byrne has taught classes in Plant Domestication, Fruit Production, and Tropical Horticulture and led trips with students to Costa Rica and Mexico to observe tropical horticultural production and research.
In the early 1990s, working with Dr. Robert Basye, a rose breeder and retired Professor of Mathematics, he began a rose breeding and genetics research program, which was enhanced by the donation of the breeding stock from Ralph Moore, the Father of the Miniature Rose.