Waikiki Aquarium director resigning as of April 30
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Bruce Carlson, who oversaw improvements and growth at the Waikiki Aquarium despite tough economic times, announced yesterday that he is resigning as director effective April 30.
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Carlson will move to Atlanta, where he will be the vice president for life sciences at the new Georgia Aquarium. Waikiki Aquarium curator Cindy Hunter will serve as interim director. The 98-year-old Waikiki Aquarium is administered by the University of Hawai'i and is the third-oldest public aquarium in the country. In March 2000, the aquarium was designated a Coastal America Ecosystem Learning Center.
Bruce Carlson is leaving for a new job in Atlanta.
Carlson could not be reached for comment yesterday, but in a written statement he called his stay at the aquarium "the most rewarding and exciting job anyone could hope for."
"I have had the opportunity to work with many great and talented people at the aquarium, as well as on campus, and throughout the community," he said.
Carlson joined the Waikiki Aquarium in 1976 under a University of Hawai'i student employment program. He became acting director in 1986 and was named director four years later.
UH-Manoa interim chancellor Deane Neubauer said Carlson has been a "tremendous asset" to the university.
"His management of the Waikiki Aquarium over the past 15 years has seen us through a number of challenging times for the facility and left us with a strong vision of how the university may proceed in the development of a public-focused ocean research center," Neubauer said.
During his tenure as director, the aquarium reached out to the community through classes and research. He also opened unusual marine life displays, such as living corals, chambered nautilus, giant clams and cuttlefish that had never been seen in a U.S. aquarium.
Carlson also helped to increase the facility's annual budget from $1 million to $2 million, most of it through admission fees.
Dave Raney, head of the Sierra Club Coral Reef Working Group, described Carlson as "very good to work with and very enthusiastic."
"As far as corals go, he has made the aquarium here one of the leaders in being able to grow South Pacific corals, as opposed to collecting them off the reef," Raney said.
Hunter has been in the UH system for 20 years and curator at the aquarium for four years. Hunter, who said she will apply for the permanent director's position, also had praise for her predecessor: "He has imbued this place with a spirit of these high standards and commitment to excellence."
