Ron Forman

Ron Forman is the president and CEO of the Audubon Foundation and was formerly the head of the Audubon Nature Institute. He was one of the leading candidates in the 2006 New Orleans mayoral election.

A past president of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Ron Forman began his tenure with Audubon Park and Zoological Garden in 1972 as City Hall liaison. Made Deputy Director in 1973 and Executive Director in 1977, the major transformation of Audubon Zoo from an "urban ghetto" to an "urban Eden" was underway. Ron Forman stepped down as CEO in 2024, and is followed by current CEO Micheal Sawaya.

During the 80's, the Audubon Nature Institute, Inc. evolved from the Friends of the Zoo organization and assumed operation of Audubon Park and Zoo. Plans were made, with overwhelming voter support, for a downtown park and aquarium. Woldenberg Riverfront Park opened in 1989 and was followed in 1990 by the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.

The Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center on the West Bank of the Mississippi River opened late in 1993. An important component of it, the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, opened in 1996.

The Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, located in Eastern New Orleans, merged into the family of Audubon facilities in 1994. The Nature Center, devastated by Hurricane Katrina, operates the programs at the Audubon Wilderness Park located adjacent to the Species Survival Center.

The Entergy IMAX Theatre, adjacent to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, opened in October 1995, while phase II of the Aquarium, a changing exhibits gallery, opened in the spring of 1996. The Audubon Insectarium, located in the U.S. Custom House, opened in 2008.