Leadership, Board & Financials

Executive team

 

Robert W. Davidson (Bob)
President & CEO 
(206) 693-6161 
b.davidson@seattleaquarium.org

Brad Rutherford
Chief Operating Officer
(206) 693-6268
b.rutherford@seattleaquarium.org

Directors

Grant Abel
Director of Life Sciences
(206) 693-6233
g.abel@seattleaquarium.org

Derek Baker 
Director of Strategic Initiatives & Government Affairs 
(206) 693-6293    
d.baker@seattleaquarium.org

Susan Bullerdick, Ph.D.
Director of Capital Projects
(206) 693-6248
s.bullerdick@seattleaquarium.org

Rick Johnson
VP of Finance
(206) 693-6114
r.johnson@seattleaquarium.org

Tim Kuniholm 
Director of Public Affairs
(206) 386-4345
t.kuniholm@seattleaquarium.org

Erin Meyer, Ph.D.
Director of Conservation Programs & Partnerships
(206) 693-6099
e.meyer@seattleaquarium.org

Tom Nguyen
Director of Information Technology
(206) 693-6240
t.nguyen@seattleaquarium.org

Jesse Phillips-Kress
VP of Facilities & Operations
(206) 693-6158
j.phillips-kress@seattleaquarium.org

Helen Rice
Interim Director of Human Resources 
(206) 693-6216
h.rice@seattleaquarium.org

Rachael Weakland
VP of Philanthropy
(206) 693-6106
r.weakland@seattleaquarium.org

Jim Wharton, Ph.D.
Director of Conservation Engagement & Learning
(206) 693-6206
j.wharton@seattleaquarium.org

Kat Willson
VP of Marketing & Communications
(206) 693-6188
k.willson@seattleaquarium.org

Board of directors

 

Officers

*Michael Guidon, Goldman Sachs
Chair

*†Melissa Mager, conservationist and retired attorney
Immediate past chair

*Karissa A. Marker, retired, KPMG
Treasurer

*Erin J. Letey, Fox Rothschild LLP
Secretary

**Robert W. Davidson
President & CEO

Directors
Mike Anderson, Pay Northwest LLC
Kevin L. Blair, Washington Trust Bank
Andrew Bleiman, Tractive GmbH
John R. Braden, retired, Seattle Aquarium
Duncan Butcher, ARTICA
Bill Chapin, NHL Seattle
Eddie Chang, Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty
Cary Clark, Argosy Cruises
Baionne Coleman, Rainier Valley Leadership Academy; The Global Majority Consortium
John Delaney, Lindblad Expeditions
Patti Dill, Community Volunteer
*†Bob C. Donegan, Ivar’s, Inc.
*William T. Einstein, Puget Sound Energy, Inc.
Susan L. Gates, Beneficial State Bank
Effie Gleason, Gull Industries
Philip M. Guess, K&L Gates LLP
*†James C. Gurke, retired, Getty Images
†Dan M. Guy III, retired, Columbia Pacific Capital Management
Janet Haberbush, Community Volunteer
*Stephanie Kornblum, Marketing law attorney
Mark E. Kramer, F5 Networks
Katherine A. Krogslund, University of Washington, School of Oceanography
Gary Kunis, Community Volunteer
Andrew J. Lewis, Seattle City Council—District 7
*Lisa C. Luther, Nordstrom
*Laura MacNeil, PNC Bank, N.A.
Dave Magee, CBRE
†J. Terry McLaughlin, retired, The Professional Basketball Club, LLC
Robert W. Power, SEA CON LLC
Tom Raaf, eBay
*†Stuart T. Rolfe, Wright Hotels, Inc.
Casey J. Schuchart, Schuchart
Ivan Seda, MUFG Union Bank
Christian Sinderman, Northwest Passage Consulting
*Gary S. Smith, Lease Crutcher Lewis
*Gary T. Smith, Smith and Stark
Julie Syrdal
*†Randy J. Tinseth, retired, The Boeing Company
Marcus Trufant, Trufant Family Foundation; Self Storage; retired Seattle Seahawks
Michael Trzupek, Imagination Technologies
Carla C. Wigen, Laird Norton Wealth Management
Christopher Williams, Parks Alternate
*†George V. Willoughby Jr., retired, King Broadcasting
*Charles Wright, Wright Associates
Susie Wyckoff, Community volunteer

Emeritus
†Ted Ackerley
**William C. Arntz
†Don Audleman
Mary L. Bass
Gini Beck
Lesley Canfield
†Dan Hungate 
Linda K. Johnson
†James P. Kerr
†Paul J. Kundtz
Eric Steinwinder

*Executive committee
**Ex-officio
†Past chair

Auxiliary board

The Seattle Aquarium auxiliary board formed in December of 2014 to actively involve Seattle’s young professionals and their communities in the Aquarium’s mission through innovative and engaging programs, events and activities.

Chair
Devin Kunysz, Salesforce

Co-vice chairs
Kendall Krause, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Deb Kay Murphy, Cutter & Buck
Sophie Riley, AHT Insurance

Members
Bill Berger, Berger Renewables Consulting
Gavin Burns, Loge Co​ 
Marie Chervanick, Facebook
Jes Collins, Community Volunteer
M. Harpur Davidson, O’Keefe Development
Eric Dormaier, Pennon Construction
Luke Hamlin, Kestra
Dan Karr, iSpot.tv
Stren Lea, Queen Investments Corp.
Nicole Pargoff, Amplify Consulting
Emily Power, Microsoft
Billy Sanchez, RECON Management, LLC
Annie Shaw, Amazon
Bryant Smick, Grafana Labs
Brandon Smith, Amazon
Nicholas Stevens, Zillow Group
Aaron Talwar, POP
Alicia Wetmore, Google
Brianna Voigt, Mary's Place
Austin Wright-Pettibone, Amazon


 

For additional information about the auxiliary board and its activities, please contact auxiliaryboard@seattleaquarium.org.

Board Meetings

Board meetings are held at 12:00 pm, unless otherwise noted. Meetings are open to the public and will be held at the Seattle Aquarium and simultaneously streamed online.

2023 meeting dates

  • February 21

Public comments

Public comments are welcome at the board meetings. A 10-minute public comment period is provided at the beginning of each regular meeting of the board.

A sign-up sheet will be available upon check-in at the Seattle Aquarium. Time will allotted on a first come, first served basis with up to two minutes allowed per speaker. Public comments can also be submitted via email at publiccomment@seattleaquarium.org

All written comments must be submitted by 10:00 am the Monday before the meeting and will be distributed to all board members prior to the meeting. If you have questions regarding board meetings, please send an email to contactus@seattleaquarium.org.