Senior Staff

Patricia Simmons is the current Director & CEO of the North Carolina Zoo and past-President and Chief Executive Officer of the Akron Zoological Park, Akron Ohio. She was Chairwoman of the Board of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in 2012. Pat has over 30 years of experience in zoological management. 

Pat is nationally and internationally recognized, receiving many awards and appointments including the Women’s History Project Woman of the Year for Imagination and the first non-profit executive to receive the Chairman’s Award from the Visitor and Convention Bureau. Most recently, Pat became one of 100 hand-selected CEO’s world wide to be a Founding Fellow of the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, a program designed to tackle global challenges for non-profit organizations.