Tampa, Florida — Veteran business leader Julian Mackenzie has been named President & Chief Executive Officer of the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) after leading the organization on an interim basis since March.
MOSI’s Board of Directors voted unanimously on July 12 to elevate Mackenzie, who joined MOSI in October 2016 as Chief Financial Officer after more than 30 years in a range of business leadership roles in the USA, France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Italy.
Mackenzie has helped improve MOSI’s finances — with year-to-date figures for fiscal year 2017 showing MOSI performing better than fiscal year 2016. He has led a team of staff and museum consultants in developing a substantial turnaround plan to refocus MOSI on its mission of science education and reshape MOSI as a financially sustainable organization. That plan received a unanimous vote of support from the Hillsborough County Commission and is being implemented over the next four months.
“Julian and his staff have done an exceptional job coming up with a direction for MOSI that is going to keep the organization strong for many years to come,” said Robert Thomas, MOSI Board Chair and CEO of Two Rivers Ranch.
“It’s Julian’s leadership that has made this future possible, and he is exactly the type of sharp, experienced individual MOSI needs right now.”
In previous roles, Mackenzie has developed and led turnaround plans, restructuring efforts, and rebranding campaigns with multiple companies in the United States and Europe. His experience includes leadership positions in companies in the fields of medical technology, telecommunications, manufacturing, insurance, and finance.
As MOSI President & CEO, Mackenzie will oversee MOSI’s major remodeling, which will temporarily close the museum from August 14 to November 17 to create an exciting reimagined experience with a lower ticket price on MOSI’s current campus next to the University of South Florida. MOSI also plans to increase its science outreach visits to school campuses, as well as experiment with new learning concepts in preparation for an eventual move to Downtown Tampa in the future.
Julian and his wife Deborah have three children — Ava, 22; William, 18; and Beatrice, 14 — and he is fluent in four languages: English, French, Italian, and Portuguese.
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