The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk has named Jason Patlis, a 27-year veteran of the ocean and natural-resource conservation sector, as its new president and CEO, effective Nov. 4.
Patlis is executive director of Marine Conservation Programs for the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Bronx; prior to that he was president and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, based in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The ninth president in the Maritime Aquarium”™s 32-year history ”“ and the second in less than a year ”“ Patlis fills an office that has been vacant since Maureen Hanley”™s dismissal in April after about three months on the job. The reasons for Hanley”™s exit have not been disclosed.
The new president/CEO arrives as the aquarium is in the midst of several projects revolving around the planned replacement of the Walk Bridge, a railroad bridge that narrowly slots between the Aquarium and its IMAX Theater. Budgeted at $40 million, the work involves building a new 4-D movie theater to replace the IMAX Theater, which must be razed, and enclosing and enlarging its popular seal exhibit. The simultaneous projects are to begin in October and take about a year.
“During this coming year, we will continue to serve the community as we have for the last 30-plus years, and we will emerge with something for everyone: a state-of-the-art theater for our guests, a more comfortable home for our harbor seals, and significant momentum for future growth of The Maritime Aquarium,” Patlis said.
“We feel like we”™re a band that got Paul McCartney to come sing lead,” said Audrey Weil, co-chair of the aquarium”™s board of trustees. “Jason brings to The Maritime Aquarium an incredible depth of knowledge, vision and leadership in national and international marine conservation, as well as proven experience in not-for-profit management.”
Patlis”™ resume includes serving as majority counsel on the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under Sen. John Chafee (1997-2000) and as deputy staff director for the U.S. House Science Committee (2006-07).
His positions on Capitol Hill bookended a six-year tenure in Indonesia (2000-2006), which began with a Fulbright Senior Scholarship and evolved into a consulting practice in which he helped to shape new laws relating to forestry and coastal-resource management as the country moved from dictatorship to democracy. Those efforts are credited with helping pave the way for the establishment of Indonesia”™s first national law on coastal management, enacted in 2007.
