John Berry is the director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park. As director of the Zoo, Berry oversees the 163-acre facility in Washington, D.C., and the 3,200-acre Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va.

Established in 1889, the Zoo employs 240 people and its collection of 2,000 animals includes many rare and endangered species. The Zoo’s mission is to provide the highest quality animal care, advance scientific excellence in conserving wildlife, teach and inspire people to engage in conservation and practice conservation leadership through sustainability. The 2005 birth of a giant panda cub is an excellent example of one of the Zoo’s most successful research and conservation programs.

Berry is responsible for the public facility, which welcomes more than 2.7 million visitors a year, and the research program, which includes groundbreaking work in conservation biology. Also under his purview are the fundraising and education programs coordinated by the Zoo’s membership organization, Friends of the National Zoo, and the completion of Elephant Trails, an extensive renovation of the Elephant House that began in 2006.

Berry’s top priority for the Zoo is fire safety and preparedness. The Zoo’s inadequate fire alarms, smoke detectors, sprinklers and water lines are in need of an extensive overhaul. Under Berry’s guidance, a thorough assessment of the Zoo’s fire-prevention system was completed, and work has begun on improvements. To reduce the risk of fire, Berry has established a ban on smoking within the park.

In October 2007, Berry opened the Cheetah Science Facility at the Conservation and Research Center. It is the first new research facility to be built on the property in 22 years. The nine-acre facility is the center of the Zoo’s international cheetah research program where scientists study cheetah biology to ensure good health, reproduction and self-sustaining populations in zoos and in the wild.

Berry also has taken steps to draw more visitors to the Zoo during times of the year when attendance has typically been lighter, such as in the winter months. In 2007, he created “ZooLights,” the National Zoo’s first-ever winter lights celebration. The event featured nearly 50 environmentally friendly light sculptures of Zoo animals and family-friendly activities. “ZooLights” was educational and entertaining; visitors learned about the Zoo’s important conservation work and how animals adapt to cold weather.

Berry also is guiding the National Zoo through a comprehensive master-planning process to identify facilities and infrastructure needs at its Washington, D.C., campus and Conservation and Research Center. Many of the facilities have become outdated and no longer meet the needs of the visitors, staff, animal exhibits, and research collections and programs. Berry instituted a bold, new 10-year strategic plan to make the National Zoo the world’s finest zoo by 2016, and he reorganized the Zoo’s structure to obtain the goal more efficiently.

Before becoming director of the Zoo, Berry was executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a congressionally chartered non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the nation’s wildlife resources. He managed a staff of 75 with six regional field offices. During his five-year tenure, Berry overhauled the foundation’s financial systems and developed a strategic plan for the organization. In the past 20 years, the foundation has distributed more than $300 million in grants for the conservation of fish, wildlife and plants. He reported to a 25-member board of directors appointed by the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Prior to joining the Wildlife Foundation, Berry served as Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior for three years (1997-2000), a position that required Senate confirmation. During his tenure, the agency’s budget increased from $7 billion to $10 billion, and he developed the presidential initiative known as the “Lands Legacy.”

This is not the first time Berry has worked at the Smithsonian: He was director of government relations and a senior policy advisor from 1995 to 1997, reporting to Smithsonian Secretary I. Michael Heyman and Under Secretary Constance Berry Newman. During that time, Berry helped secure federal funds for the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. He left the Smithsonian to become Assistant Secretary at the Department of the Interior.

From 1985 to 1994, Berry served as legislative director for Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and associate staff for the House Appropriations Committee.

Berry, who lives in Washington, D.C., earned a bachelor’s degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland, summa cum laude, in 1980, and a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University in 1981.

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