The Seattle Aquarium has a new CEO.

Peggy Sloan, the chief animal conservation officer at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, will begin her new job in May. She replaces Bob Davidson, who will retire after 23 years as CEO. Davidson, one of Seattle magazine’s Most Influential people of 2025, is credited with reinventing the aquarium (it recently opened the Ocean Pavilion and a public rooftop) and was one of the leaders of Seattle $800 million waterfront renovation.

In a release, Sloan — who is known for her efforts to promote ocean conservation — said the aquarium is in a “transformative moment in time.”

“The Ocean Pavilion rooftop creates a sense of place where the Salish Sea and surrounding mountains become overtly embedded in the experience of a revitalized waterfront,” she said. “Through direct connections to the splendor of Seattle’s coast outdoors, and life below the surface of our one ocean indoors, the Aquarium can harness the transformative power of nature to benefit people and the wild places on which we all depend.”

Shedd Aquarium is one of the first and largest aquariums in the United States. During her seven years there, Sloan played a key role in executing a $500 million strategic plan. She previously served as director of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

She first visited Seattle in 1991 to work as a NOAA fisheries observer, and was deployed in the field of catcher and trawlers in the Bering Sea.

“I fell in love with Seattle and its connection to nature,” she said. “At the time it felt like a place I was meant to be. I am thrilled to be returning home.”