Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk President to Retire in New Year

Jennifer Herring, president and chief executive officer of The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, announced on Tuesday that she will retire in 2014. Herring will have served the Aquarium for more than 10 years, longer than any CEO in the Aquarium’s 25-year history. 

While the Aquarium Board of Trustees searches for a new president, Herring assured the staff she will continue to be energetically involved. “The last thing I want to become is a lame duck,” Herring joked in a release. “So I won’t be quacking anytime soon.”

Herring will continue to serve in her present role, leading the Aquarium through a new animal-touch exhibit experience to be announced in January, the institution’s primary gala fund-raiser for education in April and the launch of a new boat – the only research vessel in the world with hybrid-electric propulsion – in June. 

“Jennifer has led the organization to the achievement of major milestones, including educational prominence, complete physical refurbishment and accreditation by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums," Aquarium Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Rohn said in the release. "She has guided it through a period of dynamic change, some very difficult economic times and raised the stature of the organization, making it a strong voice for the conservation of Long Island Sound.”

The board already has begun forming a search committee headed by Sanders Davies, former chairman of the board and current vice chair. 

“Over the course of the coming year, Jennifer remains committed to leading the organization to greater financial stability and to new institutional relevance, with great new opportunities with the launching of the new research vessel,” Rohn said in the release. “And we will have ample opportunity to celebrate the contributions of her tenure. By this time next year, we will have a new leader and will be planning for an exciting new chapter in the organization’s achievement of its mission.”