Seasoned cultural institution leader Gretchen E. Baker has been named the new President & CEO of the Chicago Botanic Garden. She will step into the position when Jean M. Franczyk retires in March. 

“Plants have been braided into my entire career, from the Amazon to the landscape design studio to the dinosaur gallery. I’m excited to now devote my energies to advocating for plants and deepening our relationship to them. I’m thrilled to return to Chicago and honored to lead the Chicago Botanic Garden,” she said.

Gretchen joins us from Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, where, since 2021, she has led one of the country’s largest natural history museums. The museum stewards more than 22 million scientific specimens and cultural artifacts, as well as the 2,200-acre Powdermill Nature Reserve, a biological field station. 

Among her many accomplishments there, Gretchen opened the Richard P. Mellon Avian Research Center and launched a reimagining of the museum experience that will renovate more than 40,000 square feet—40 percent of the museum’s interior space—by 2028, including the first new permanent exhibition in nearly 20 years. She also guided the development of a 10-year strategic roadmap, led the museum’s successful reaccreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, and secured the largest philanthropic gift in the museum’s history after its founder. 

Assuming the role of President & CEO at the Garden marks a return to Chicago for Gretchen, who began her career at the Field Museum. Over her 18-year tenure there, she had a variety of roles, including work with the herbarium, the Timothy C. Plowman Economic Botany Collection, botanical research in Ecuador, and the early groundbreaking of the museum’s environmental and conservation programs, now the Keller Science Action Center. She was also instrumental in exhibition design and development, public programs, business development, and strategic planning. 

Gretchen went on to serve as Vice President of Exhibitions at the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, overseeing the museum’s Nature Gardens and La Brea Tar Pits. She also served as Managing Director of Museum Experience at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a 300,000-square-foot museum and 11-acre park under development in Los Angeles, scheduled to open in fall 2026. 

“Gretchen brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to the Garden’s mission,” said Michael R. Zimmerman, Chair of the Board. “We were equally impressed by her innovative ideas, passion for the natural world, and approachability.” 

Gretchen earned her BA in biology and anthropology from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and pursued graduate studies in landscape architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. We look forward to welcoming Gretchen in March to our world-renowned living museum.