Buffalo Zoo names interim leader Lisa Smith as official president & CEO

She was already doing the job.

Lisa Smith, who took the reins on an interim basis in September following the abrupt departure of Norah Fletchall, was named Monday to lead the nation’s third oldest zoo.

The 27-year zoo professional came to the Buffalo Zoo in May 2018 as general curator, before becoming chief zoological officer in 2021.

Smith was chosen after a national search drew interest from 105 candidates, including three brought to Buffalo for interviews. She will be in charge of implementing the zoo’s strategic and master plans, overseeing animal care and raising money for future projects.

“The board had the rare ability to witness our new president and CEO in action for almost a year, and given Lisa’s high level of achievement, her staff’s respect for her leadership and the innovations she brought to the operation during her time as interim, we had an easy choice,” said David Flynn, zoo board chairman.

“We are pleased that Lisa came through a very rigorous search, and interviews with four finalists,” said Jonathan Dandes, who headed the board’s search committee. “What the search demonstrated clearly is that there are many highly qualified candidates, and we have the best among them.”   

Smith began her career in 1995 in Crescent City, Calif., at what is now Ocean World, before moving to the Santa Barbara Zoo, also in California, for a year as an animal-care specialist.

She went on to Cleveland Metroparks as a zoo keeper from 1998 to 2002, and to the Atlanta Zoo as a curator of large mammals until 2009.

Her next eight years were spent at Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum in Sioux Falls, S.D., as senior director of animal programs, prior to coming to Buffalo.

“It is a pinnacle moment for my career,” Smith told The Buffalo News after being named the third president and CEO of the zoo in the last 23…