Raymond B. King (born 1965) is an American executive. Since 2010, he has been the president and CEO of

Zoo Atlanta Zoo Atlanta (sometimes referred as Atlanta Zoo) is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoo in Atlanta, Georgia. The current president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta is Raymond B. King. History Zoo Atlanta was founded in 1889, when b ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia.

Early life

King was born in Atlanta on November 16, 1965. He attended

Erskine College Erskine College is a private Christian college in Due West, South Carolina, United States. It is an undergraduate liberal arts college and a graduate theological seminary. The college was founded in 1839 by the Associate Reformed Presbyteri ...

in Due West, South Carolina, later transferring to the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

, where he was active in the

Chi Phi Chi Phi () is considered by some as the oldest American men's college social fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The earliest of these organizations was forme ...

fraternity. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in management in 1987.

Career

King began his professional career at

SunTrust Bank SunTrust Banks, Inc. was an American bank holding company with SunTrust Bank as its largest subsidiary and assets of US$199 billion as of March 31, 2018. The bank's most direct corporate parent was established in 1891 in Atlanta, where it was h ...

in 1988. His leadership positions included senior vice president of community affairs and corporate secretary of SunTrust Atlanta. King was listed among ''Georgia Trend'' magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" in 2004 and was named on the Watch List of the Atlanta Business Chronicle's "25 Atlantans Making a Difference" in 2007. King was a recipient of the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

Chairman's Award in 2009 and was named among the ''Atlanta Business Chronicles "Most Influential Atlantans" in 2012. King joined Zoo Atlanta on June 1, 2010, as president and CEO. His tenure has included a 50 percent increase in the zoo's annual attendance and capital campaigns to fund ''Scaly Slimy Spectacular: The Amphibian and Reptile Experience'' and the ''Grand New View'' project which created a new African Savanna and 2 story special event venue overlooking it. King has led Zoo Atlanta in raising over $65 Million in philanthropic support and over $60 Million in Public support, each well more than was raised in the 25 previous years as a private institution.

Awards and recognitions

The Atlanta Business Chronicle named King “Most Admired Non-Profit CEO” 3 consecutive years (maximum allowed) in 2014-2016. Atlanta Magazine named him one of the “500 Most Powerful Leaders” in 2018 and 2019.

Civic activities

King has been chair of six non-profit boards of directors, namely the

Fernbank Museum of Natural History Fernbank Museum of Natural History, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a museum that presents exhibitions and programming about natural history. The museum has a number of permanent exhibitions and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions in its expansive fa ...

(2010), Regional Business Coalition, Committee for a Better Atlanta, Metro Atlanta Arts and Culture Coalition, Theatre in the Square, and Research Atlanta.Raymond B. King
Georgia State University Economic Forecasting Center: August 2010 Conference Program

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Raymond American nonprofit chief executives American nonprofit executives 1965 births Living people 21st-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Atlanta