Wayne Clough, secretary of the Smithsonian, announced that Dennis Kelly has been selected as the new director of the National Zoo. Kelly will take over February 15. John Berry, the last director, left the zoo to become the director of the Office of Personnel Management.
Kelly is unknown to me but he does come to town after a six-year stint as president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta. I am a big fan of Zoo Atlanta but much of that may have to do with space. Not something D.C. has any extra of.
I am interested to see where he steers the zoo. For those who follow it, obviously the Connecticut Avenue park is undergoing a major overhaul. The Asia Trail opened in 2006, the Elephant Trail is scheduled to open in 2011 and a new sea lion and seal exhibit will be unveiled the following year. All of this means the zoo of my youth will be no longer, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. I just hope that too many animals do not get the boot because of all this expansion. The zoo has already given up on giraffes and hippos.
An statement from Clough announcing Kelly’s hiring is below.
Dear Friends of the National Zoo Members,
Please read the following message, sent this morning by Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough.
Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that Dennis Kelly will become the director the National Zoo, effective February 15.
Dennis comes to the Smithsonian from Zoo Atlanta, where he has been the president and CEO since June 2003. During his tenure there, Dennis enhanced Zoo Atlanta's scientific and animal welfare programs and visitor experience and rebuilt its marketing, government relations and fundraising capabilities. He raised more than $40 million in public and private funds for the zoo during his six years there, and provided the environment and resources for important scientific and conservation work by the zoo's staff, including collaboration with National Zoo scientists on giant panda breeding and conservation. Under his leadership, Zoo Atlanta strengthened its education programs and assisted in developing education departments in dozens of zoos in China.
From 1999 to 2003, Dennis was the president and later CEO of Green Mountain Energy Co. During his tenure, the company's annual sales grew from $60,000 to $250 million.??Dennis also has held positions with Procter & Gamble and Touche Ross & Co. He worked at The Coca-Cola Co. in Atlanta from 1982 to 1999, serving in various positions. In 1997, he was appointed chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola Europe, overseeing marketing efforts for flagship and local brands in those markets.
He earned a bachelor's degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University.
Dennis succeeds Steve Monfort, the Zoo's associate director for conservation and science, who has served as the acting director since February 2009. Steve served well as acting director; he helped create a program between the Smithsonian and the World Bank Group to stabilize and restore wild tiger populations, and strengthened the Zoo's role in conservation education through a partnership with George Mason University. I am grateful that Steve will continue as the associate director for conservation and science, as well as the director of the Conservation and Research Center, the Smithsonian's home for global studies of endangered species. I wish to thank Steve for all of his hard work as acting director and I appreciate everything he does on behalf of the Zoo.
Please join me in welcoming Dennis to the Smithsonian and in thanking Steve for his service and dedication to the Zoo.
Sincerely,
Wayne Clough
Secretary
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