President and CEO of the Cox Science Center and Aquarium Kate Arrizza shares her history with the science center and how she hopes to help nurture future generations.
Kate Arrizza is the president and CEO of the Cox Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach.
“I truly know what it’s like to change a child’s life because my life was changed by the science center,” says Kate Arrizza, president and CEO of the Cox Science Center and Aquarium. Since she was a child, she knew she wanted to work at the center and even slept under the planetarium with her Girl Scout troop when she was 8 years old. As a teenager, she volunteered at the center. And now as its leader, Arrizza relishes every aspect of her work from educating school groups to talking to patrons to even playing with the exhibits herself.
“I believe so much in what we’re doing,” says Arrizza. “The science center has had such an impact on so many lives, and Palm Beach County deserved an expanded science center. We were lucky enough to get some major funders on board.” With the first $20 million contribution made by Howard and Wendy Cox, precipitating the renaming of the center last year, Arrizza and her team are well on their way to achieving big goals for the facility expansion, including hosting the touring exhibit Dinosaur Explorer, now through April. The newest dinosaur exhibit in the country, it features life-size animatronic dinosaurs based on the very latest paleontological research, making it the most scientifically accurate touring dinosaur exhibit in the United States.
Her lifelong commitment and passion for this special place ring very clear. “We truly have exhibits for everyone here at the science center, from age 2 to 92,” says Arrizza. “And our goal is to make a difference.”
Photography by: PHOTOGRAPHED BY CAPEHART
