Robert Davidson

Robert W. Davidson (Bob) became the President and CEO of the newly nonprofit Seattle Aquarium on July 1, 2010, after serving as CEO of the Seattle Aquarium Society since 2002. Davidson guided a repositioning of the Aquarium Society leading to the successful Aquarium Operations and Management Agreement with the City in 2009.

A key component was the $41.5 million public/private New Currents Aquarium expansion in 2007, which has increased attendance and made Seattle the country’s ninth largest aquarium. Davidson was a leader in the earlier $40 million project to revitalize Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo as co-initiator of Mayor Royer’s Zoo Commission, Zoological Society board president and later as its Executive Director and CEO.

These efforts paved the way for the Zoo’s transition to nonprofit management in 2002. Davidson holds an EMBA from the University of Washington and an AB from Harvard College, has served in senior government positions at the federal and state levels, and has held executive positions in manufacturing and private investment management. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Central Waterfront Partnerships Committee, and co-chair of its stewardship and operations subcommittee.