Paul Baribault

Last updated
Paul-Baribault (1).webp

Paul Baribault is an American business executive who previously served as the President and CEO of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance from 2021 until 2025, as well as chairman of the board of the Jane Goodall Institute. [1] [2]

Early life and education

Baribault grew up in La Cañada Flintridge, California. He graduated from Stanford University in 1996. [3] Baribault subsequently earned an MBA at the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business. [4]

For six years, Baribault competed on the U.S. men's national luge team. [5]

Career

In 1997, Baribault began working at The Walt Disney Studios. As vice president of animation marketing operations and strategy, he helped lead theatrical film campaigns for Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios and The Muppets. Then as vice president and general manager of Disneynature, Baribault was responsible for marketing, film production, and brand development of Disney's efforts at documenting conservation worldwide. [1] It was at Disneynature that Baribault became a global presence in nature conservation. [6]

After more than 22 years at Disney, [4] Baribault became the president and CEO of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Baribault opened an $88-million, 3.2-acre " Wildlife Explorers' Basecamp" in the San Diego facility, dedicated to fostering conservation education among youths. He also led the rebranding of the organization, and alignment of it toward a "place where all life thrives" with eight research hubs around the world, conducting conservation research. [7] He was instrumental in bringing two new pandas to the Zoo, in an effort to complement conservation of these critically endangered animals [8] that had not been part of the institution for 21 years. [9] [10] [11] Governor Gavin Newsom of California welcomed the pandas with Baribault, and the Chinese ambassador to the US. [8] [12] Baribault also inaugurated a panda cam in Times Square, in New York City, to raise awareness about the enduring need to conserve this critically endangered species. [13] Baribault's efforts earned him global recognition and praise from the leading primate conservationist in the world, Jane Goodall, who praised his efforts at making San Diego Zoo one of the "one of the top conservation organizations globally." [14] In recognition of this, Goodall appointed him chair of the board of the Jane Goodall Institute, a volunteer position, in 2021. [14] [15] He is a member of the executive committee of Jackson Wild, [6] and became a member of the board of directors of the The Explorers Club in 2023. [16] He left the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in March of 2025. [2] [17]

References

  1. 1 2 Fikes, Bradley J. (September 13, 2019). "San Diego Zoo brings in president and CEO from Disney". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 2020-11-26.
  2. 1 2 Fikes, Bradley J. (November 8, 2019). "Paul Baribault takes charge as the San Diego Zoo's first new leader in 34 years". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 2022-04-06.
  3. ↑ Marsh, Ann (2014). "Disney, Naturally". Stanford Magazine.
  4. 1 2 Fransen, Sofie (August 10, 2023). "San Diego Zoo CEO Paul Baribault committed to conservation". The Coronado News.
  5. ↑ Yinmeng, Liu (February 8, 2022). "San Diego zoo earns its stripes in Year of the Tiger". China Daily.
  6. 1 2 Jennewein, Chris (2019-09-13). "San Diego Zoo Picks New CEO from Walt Disney Studios". Times of San Diego. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  7. ↑ "Paul Baribault out as president and CEO of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2025-03-26. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  8. 1 2 "Governor and First Partner welcome new giant panda pair at San Diego Zoo". Governor of California. 2024-08-08. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  9. ↑ Vaziri, Aidin (August 7, 2024). "California sees historic return of pandas at San Diego Zoo". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  10. ↑ Cutter, Chip (2024-08-11). "Inside the San Diego Zoo's Six-Month Sprint to Bring Pandas Back to America". WSJ. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  11. ↑ "San Diego Zoo to Receive 2 Giant Pandas From China (Published 2024)". 2024-06-26. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  12. ↑ "Ambassador Xie Feng attended the opening ceremony of the San Diego Zoo's Panda Ridge_Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America". us.china-embassy.gov.cn. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  13. ↑ "Video San Diego Zoo panda cam showcased in Times Square". ABC News. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  14. 1 2 "San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance CEO Paul A. Baribault appointed chairman of board of Jane Goodall Institute". InPark Magazine. 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  15. ↑ "San Diego Zoo CEO Paul Baribault named Chair of Jane Goodall Institute Board". ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV. 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  16. ↑ "Club Officials". The Explorers Club. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  17. ↑ "San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance CEO steps down". Yahoo News. 2025-03-26. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.