An Evening with the Detroit Zoo CEO

Join us on March 18th from 6 - 7:30 pm for a FREE presentation and Q&A with Hayley Murphy, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Detroit Zoo. Learn about Zoology, Detroit Zoo exhibits and more.

Light refreshments will be served.

Directions to the event:

• Oakland Community College Royal Oak Campus
• FREE Parking location (Parking Structure is lock at 10pm)
• Lila Jones-Johnson Theater Location on campus

Dr. Hayley Weston Murphy is the current executive director and chief executive officer of the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) in Royal Oak, Michigan, which operates the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center.

When she stepped into the role in November 2021, she did so with more than three decades of experience in animal welfare, conservation and zoo management under her belt. Before joining the DZS, Dr. Murphy worked for twelve years at Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia serving as Director of Veterinary Services, Vice President of Animal Divisions and as the Deputy Director.

Prior to her time with Zoo Atlanta, Murphy served as the director of veterinary services at Zoo New England in Boston, Massachusetts. She also spent her early career as an equine and small animal veterinarian.

Today, Murphy is one the country’s leading experts in gorilla cardiac health. She is the founder and director emeritus of the Great Ape Heart Project, an international, multi-institutional effort aimed at investigating, diagnosing and treating heart disease in great apes. In 2020, the project was awarded the inaugural Research Award by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Additionally, she is veterinary advisor to the Gorilla Species Survival Plan and the Great Ape Taxonomic Advisory Group and serves on the board of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. In 2019, she lectured on heart disease in great apes at a symposium hosted by the Karolinska Institute and Nobel Forum in Stockholm, Sweden.

Outside of her work with great apes, Murphy serves as the chair of the AZA Ethics Board and is a member of the International Women’s Forum.

Murphy is a 1992 graduate of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. In 2018, she continued her education by graduating from the AZA Executive Leadership Development Program.

When she is not at work, Murphy enjoys spending time with her husband, Dr. David Murphy, a small animal veterinarian, and her two children.