Roger Germann

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Roger Germann
Roger Germann.PNG
Born
Seminole, Florida
NationalityUnited States of America
CitizenshipAmerican
EducationBachelor's degree in communications
Alma materOsceola High School
University of Illinois at Chicago
Occupation
  • American businessman
  • Political appointee
OrganizationFlorida Aquarium
Known forFounding the American Sports Museum
TitleCEO

Roger Germann is an American businessman, political appointee and former TV producer. He is one of the founders of the American Sports Museum in Chicago, Illinois, is currently the CEO of the Florida Aquarium located in Tampa, Florida, and is a former executive of the notable Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

Early life and education

Roger Germann grew up in Seminole, Florida. After he graduated from Osceola High School, he moved to the Midwest to attend college at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications.[1] He began his career as a writer and producer for WLS-TV (ABC affiliate) in Chicago, then became a television producer for the syndicated show America’s Funniest People. He was the press secretary for the Illinois State Treasurer, served as the deputy press secretary for the Illinois State Legislature, and worked for a PR firm. [2]

Shedd Aquarium

In the early 2000s, German joined the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago as a communications manager. He worked his way up until 2013 when he became Vice President of Great Lakes and Sustainability. His top level position at the Shedd Aquarium before leaving was Executive Vice President where he managed government, community and industry relations as well as directing external affairs.[3] [4] [5] [6]

American Sports Museum

In 2016, Chicago was among a number of U.S. cities hoping to become the hometown for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. When it was announced that Chicago would not be the host city, Germann partnered with Adler Planetarium executive Mark Lapides to launch a replacement: the American Sports Museum, a Chicago-based educational museum. [7] The museum will be designed to teach people “about all sorts of topics, from history and biology to physics,” according to Crain’s Chicago Business magazine, by teaching both students and adults about baseball (the physics of a curveball), football (the anatomy of an injury), ice hockey (the engineering of making ice and using Zambonis), and the Olympics (history). Germann and Lapides set off to raise $50 million and find 100,000 square feet in a location close to downtown Chicago. Crain’s projected that the museum—once built—will have 250 employees and a $20 million annual budget. [8]

Florida Aquarium

In 2017, the longtime CEO of the Florida Aquarium, Thom Stork, died after a battle with cancer. Mark Watson, the chairman of the Florida Aquarium, then hired Germann.[9] [10]

Watson’s reasons for selecting Germann over other aquarium executives were two-fold. First, the Florida Aquarium was focusing and prioritizing its energy on marine conservation in Tampa Bay. Germann had previously served the board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Advisory Board (GLAB), studying and advising the EPA on Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which works to help protect the Great Lakes against threats to its ecosystem. [11]

Second, the aquarium wanted to branch out and focus on the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico by partnering with Cuba’s “Acuario Nacional de Cuba” (National Aquarium of Cuba). Germann had worked in communications and in executive positions at the prestigious John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago for 16 years.[12]

In 2018, Germann went to Havana, Cuba to approve a memorandum of understanding with Acuario Nacional de Cuba that enables the two institutions to continue their joint efforts to restore coral reefs in the Caribbean. Our countries may be at odds at times, said Germann but “…this memorandum of understanding is really critical to the benefit of Florida, to the benefit of both countries." The Florida Aquarium is the only U.S. institution to partner with a Cuban aquarium. [13]The renewed agreement will be effective until 2023, enabling researchers from the Florida Aquarium and its Cuban counterpart to focus on the environmental impact of coral reef restoration in the Western Caribbean Ocean and in the gulf of Mexico.[14]

Government committees and boards

In 2019 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis named Germann to the advisory board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District for a four-year term.[15] He also served on Gov. DeSantis’ Transition Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. [16]

He was appointed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s first Great Lakes Advisory Board, implementing the agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. [17]

He has served in various leadership positions on national committees, and currently sits on the Honors and Awards Committee of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums where he also was Chair of the Aquarium Affairs Committee and participated in the organization’s first Executive Leadership Development Program.[18] [19]

He is past chair of AZA’s Public Relations committee and a founding member of AZA’s Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) Steering Committee. He was a member of the University of Illinois-Chicago Board of Visitors, and the Board for Rags of Honor. He served as the former Vice President of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Chicago Citizens Academy Board, and was appointed to the Illinois State Treasurer’s Economic Development Task Force.[20]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Griffin, Justine (8 May 2017). "The Florida Aquarium hires new CEO from Chicago". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg FL: Times Publishing Company.
  2. ↑ "Roger Germann". Profile Tampa Bay Business Journal. Charlotte NC: American City Business Journals. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  3. ↑ Cohn, Laura (30 May 2010). "Summer at the Shedd". LauraCohnReports.com.
  4. ↑ Migliaccio, Pat (1 July 2011). ""Navy Divers Jump into Shedd Exhibit during Chicago Navy Week 2011". US Navy. US Department of Defense.
  5. ↑ "Is Shark Week good for sharks?". WBEZ 91.5 Chicago. Chicago IL: Chicago Public Media. 15 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Griffin, Justine (8 May 2017). "The Florida Aquarium hires new CEO from Chicago". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg FL: Times Publishing Company.
  7. ↑ Vivanco, Leonor (22 March 2017). "Sports museum in Chicago is proposed by ex-Adler, Shedd executives". Chicago Tribune. Chicago IL: Tribune Publishing.
  8. ↑ Bergnatoli, Lisa (17 March 2017). "A sports museum for Chicago?". Crain's Chicago Business. Chicago IL: Crain Communications Inc.
  9. ↑ Griffin, Justine (8 May 2017). "The Florida Aquarium hires new CEO from Chicago". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg FL: Times Publishing Company.
  10. ↑ McMorris, Frances (10 May 2017). "Florida Aquarium's new CEO predicts a 'bigger and bolder' future."". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Charlotte NC: American Business Journals.
  11. ↑ "EPA re-establishes Great Lakes Advisory Board". US Environmental Protection Agency. 13 December 2013.
  12. ↑ McMorris, Frances (10 May 2017). "Florida Aquarium's new CEO predicts a 'bigger and bolder' future". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Charlotte NC: American Business Journals.
  13. ↑ Guzzo, Paul (17 October 2018). "Despite political winds, Florida Aquarium will keep working with Cuba to save reefs". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg FL: Times Publishing Company.
  14. ↑ "The Florida Aquarium Renews Historic Partnership with Cuba to Protect Coral Reefs". Florida Trend Press Release. St. Petersburg FL: Florida Trend Media Company. 18 October 2018.
  15. ↑ Ward, Brendan (18 September 2019). "Florida Aquarium CEO appointed to water management district board."". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Charlotte NC: American City Business Journals.
  16. ↑ "Roger Germann". Profile Tampa Bay Business Journal. Charlotte NC: American City Business Journals. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  17. ↑ Grayson, E. Lynn (19 March 2019). "Great Lakes Advisory Board Named". Jenner & Block Environmental.
  18. ↑ "Honors and Awards Committee". aza.org. Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
  19. ↑ "AZA Launches Program for Potential Future Executives of Accredited Zoos and Aquariums". aza.org. Association of Zoos & Aquariums. 13 January 2014.
  20. ↑ "Roger Germann". Contributor Profile. Huffington Post. New York, NY: AOL.

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