Personal Information
- Full name
- Suzanne Lewis
- Title
- Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park
- Organization
- National Park Service
- GWS organizational role
- Board Member
- Biography
Suzanne Lewis began her duties as superintendent of Yellowstone National Park in 2002. She manages more than 2.2 million acres, a full time staff of 400 and an annual base budget of more than $28 million. Before coming to Yellowstone, Suzanne was superintendent at Glacier National Park. She began her NPS career as a seasonal park ranger in 1978 at Gulf Islands National Seashore. During her 11-year tenure at Gulf Islands National Seashore, she served in a variety of positions including park technician, park historian, supervisory park ranger and management assistant to the Superintendent. Chosen in 1988 for an international assignment to the Republic of Haiti, she assisted the United Nation's efforts to help Haitians preserve the country's natural and cultural resources. In 1989, Lewis was appointed acting superintendent for Christiansted National Historic Site and Buck Island Reef National Monument in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She was selected in 1990 as the first superintendent for the newly created Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve--a national park area in Jacksonville, Florida. Suzanne served as the superintendent for the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1997 to April 2000, where she managed one of the busiest national recreation areas in the United States. She earned her B.A. (Magna Cum Laude) in American History in 1978 from the University of West Florida. During her Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program, Lewis completed assignments with the Department of Interior Secretary's Special Assistant for Alaska, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Walt Disney World Corporation. Lewis has received numerous awards including the Secretary of the Interior's Bronze Executive Leadership Award in March 2004, the National Park Service Meritorious Service Award in September 2003, and the National Parks and Conservation Association Park Manager of the Year for Partnerships in 1994. She was also awarded the Woman of Distinction Award by the Girl Scout Councils of America in 1997. Suzanne enjoys traveling and completed a tour of southern Africa in 1996, visiting six national parks in Botswana and Zimbabwe, including whitewater rafting the Zambezi River.
History
- Member for
- 2 years 27 weeks