WAZA Presidents
WAZA Presidents from 1935 to present
The Association began as a gathering of zoo directors in Basel, Switzerland in 1935, named the ‘International Association of Directors of Zoological Gardens’. Kurt Priemel, Director of Frankfurt Zoo, was appointed as the organisation’s first President.
The Association was then officially re-established in the Netherlands in 1946 after WWII, and renamed the ‘International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens’ (IUDZG). Armand Sunier, Director of Amsterdam Zoo/ARTIS was appointed as President.
In 1992, the organisation name changed to ‘IUDZG – World Zoo Organisation’ (WZO), and in 1998 it changed to ‘World Zoo Organisation’, removing the IUDZG prefix. In 2000, the organisation changed its name to today’s ‘World Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (WAZA).
| Year | President | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 1935-1939 | Jurt Priemel | Frankfurt Zoo |
| 1946-1949 | Armand Sunier | Amsterdam Zoo |
| 1950-1952 | Heini Hediger | Basel Zoo |
| 1953-1955 | Axel Reventlow | Copenhagen Zoo |
| 1956-1958 | Walter Van den bergh | Antwerp Zoo |
| 1959-1961 | Freeman Shelly | Philadelphia Zoo |
| 1962-1964 | George Mottershead | Chester Zoo |
| 1956-1967 | Ernst Lang | Basel Zoo |
| 1968-1970 | Wilhelm Windecker | Cologne Zoo |
| 1971 | Charles Schroeder | San Diego Zoo |
| 1972-1974 | Zdeněk Veselovský | Prague Zoo |
| 1975-1977 | Frank Brand | National Zoological Gardens Pretoria |
| 1978-1980 | Colin Rawlins | Zoological Society of London |
| 1981-1983 | Heinz-Georg Klös | Berlin Zoo |
| 1984-1986 | Lester Fisher | Lincoln Park Zoo |
| 1987-1988 | Dick van Dam | Rotterdam Zoo |
| 1989-1991 | Roger Wheater | Edinburgh Zoo |
| 1992 | Siegfried Seifert | Leipzig Zoo |
| 1993 | Peter Karsten | Calgary Zoo |
| 1994-1995 | Gunther Nogge | Cologne Zoo |
| 1996-1997 | Palmer Krantz | Riverbanks Zoo and Garden |
| 1998-1999 | Frederic Daman | Antwerp Zoo |
| 2000-2001 | Willie Labuschagne | National Zoological Gardens Pretoria |
| 2002-2003 | Alex Rübel | Zurich Zoo |
| 2004-2005 | Ed McAlister | Adelaide Zoo |
| 2006-2007 | Karen Sausman | The Living Desert |
| 2008-2009 | Gordon McGregor Reid | Chester Zoo |
| 2010-2011 | Mark Penning | uShaka Sea World Durban |
| 2012-2013 | Jörg Junhold | Leipzig Zoo |
| 2014-2015 | Lee Ehmke | Houston Zoo |
| 2015-2016 | Susan Hunt | Perth Zoo |
| 2016-2019 | Jenny Gray | Melbourne Zoo |
| 2020-2021 | Theodore B. Pagel | Cologne Zoo |
| 2022-2023 | Clément Lanthier | Calgary Zoo |
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is the global alliance of regional associations, national federations, zoos and aquariums, dedicated to the care and conservation of animals and their habitats around the world.
