At first, it was Oklahoma City Zoological Park. It was called the Oklahoma City Zoo. We put the word, “Park,” on it to give it a little more formality. Then in the mid 90’s, we went for botanical garden accreditation through AAM, the American Association of Museums. That process took… Read More
In the beginning it was, it was difficult to get things done simply because people hadn’t been given permission to succeed. They had been told to do something and if it didn’t work out quite right, then they were chastised for it. So, their enthusiasm was almost nonexistent. Their willingness… Read More
But that was throughout the organization. So, there was a you talk about culture change that really had to happen there badly. And over time, what had really amounted to the personalities had to change. I had to I guess, I had to eliminate some of those people from the… Read More
Was it difficult to get things done?… Read More
At the time the Education Department was very small, largely docents. And one of the problems at that institution, which had probably just been a result of prior administration and the cultures created within that is that none of these departments talked. The Education Department didn’t talk to Animal Department. Read More
What was your vision for education in the zoo and how did you see it starting to develop?… Read More
Potential. The potential in that institution was just phenomenal. Had the property. I forget, 112 acres. The property was there. The opportunity for building new exhibits was there. Just cleaning it up and making it presentable, that potential was there. There were a lot of things that had happened in… Read More
It just didn’t fit in with the modern zoo. You mentioned education. Read More
What’d you see the strengths of the institution and the weaknesses instantaneously as you were there?… Read More
When you decided or were thinking seriously about this position, did you seek advice or guidance from any of your peers?… Read More
They sent me probably two years of budgets from that zoo, financials from the zoo. Dick Schultz had retired by then. I went over to his house and gave him these materials. I said, “I need some help because there’s things I’m not understanding here. This doesn’t doesn’t look right… Read More
And if that involved new technology by gosh, we were gonna do it. If that involved doing some things that have been done in the past, recreating, then that’s what we did. And we put together plans. I’m very methodical in the way I do things, whether it’s at business… Read More
I’m not a shoot from the hip person. So, we really worked hard at focusing and making the positive changes and letting the pieces fall where they may. Read More
And so, we started getting the collection cleaned out and cleaned up and making it more meaningful in terms of the zoo’s goals. I’ve always been a strong believer in understanding that first of all, the zoo is a recreational entity and that’s why people come to the zoo. We… Read More
I think when anybody steps into a position, they’re gonna bring elements of their past with them in terms of what their vision would be and how you would like to make it better. I certainly was fortunate to have some financial skills in terms of managing money and managing… Read More
So, I had an understanding of the power of the computer and how that could help us manage things. When I arrived at the zoo, the entire accounting system was being run on an Apple 2E with about three peripherals in terms of memory and stuff. It was crazy. So,… Read More
Just to drop back a bit, when you became executive director of the zoo, were there things from your other positions that you consciously brought with you that helped you in this executive director position?… Read More
Was this a master plan that was already in place or was this something you created?… Read More
No, 1987. We interviewed some architectural firms for a master plan and Cole Lee were selected and they produced the master plan. So, actually I think that may have been the first bonafide master plan that that institution had ever had. They had little parts but it was here was… Read More
I think it was, looking back on it and somebody else has asked me that question and I thought it was just a matter of deduction. This was the only opportunity left to us other than somebody coming up and giving us a whole lot of money for X number… Read More