January 26, 2021
Ian Owens, a distinguished evolutionary biologist and currently the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s deputy director, has been named the next executive director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Owens will take the helm of the 106-year-old institution on July 1. He will also hold an appointment as professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).
Ian Owens
Owens will succeed John Fitzpatrick, who has led the Cornell Lab since 1995.
Originally from Yorkshire, England, Owens has previously been director at the Natural History Museum in London and a professor at Imperial College London.