Seattle's Pacific Science Center names Kevin Malgesini president and CEO
After restoring public access to its courtyard, selling a chunk of its property for $17 million and laying off staff, Seattle’s Pacific Science Center is gearing up for more change.
PacSci President and CEO Will Daugherty, who has led the organization since December 2015, will step down at the end of June, the nonprofit announced Thursday morning.
Kevin Malgesini will be the nonprofit’s new president and CEO. He’s joining PacSci from Seattle Children’s Theatre, where he has served as managing director since 2018.
The longtime Seattleite from Central Washington starts June 1, overlapping with Daugherty until he departs June 30.
Malgesini, 45, joins at a transformative moment in the organization’s 64-year history. PacSci recently sold about 21% of its property, including its Boeing IMAX Theater, to the owners of the Space Needle - and laid off 5% of its staff, namely its director of theaters and eight people on its guest services team. The C-suite swap follows other changes to the institution’s physical footprint near Seattle Center, including a decision to restore public access to its courtyard and changes to its entrances and exhibit spaces.
Daugherty, 61, said he wanted to complete multiple major projects before his departure to help stabilize the institution, including the property sale (meant to bring a cash injection and more visitors to campus), the courtyard access changes and the expansion of mobile education program Science on Wheels.
Daugherty said this week that he’s proud to have honed the organization’s focus on community service, curiosity and critical thinking - in addition to expanding access through free and low-cost memberships and programming.
“I wanted to make sure that we were positioning the leadership team very strongly for success with the next generation of leadership. We’ve been able to do that. So it feels like a great time to be passing the baton,” Daugherty said. “I think the institution is ready for a fresh perspective.”
When I started, we had $10 million in debt and no cash,” Daugherty added. “When I’m leaving, we have no debt and $15 million in cash.
Malgesini said his main tasks are making sure PacSci is telling its story well enough to attract more visitors (including tourists) and philanthropic support; modernizing its offerings; expanding access to programming for young people; and increasing satellite programming and partnerships with organizations for camps and classes.
“I’m excited to increase the number of visitors that are coming through the Science Center and increase the number of people who are getting science programming brought directly to them,” Malgesini said.
With the move, Malgesini makes a big jump, from overseeing an organization with a budget of just under $10 million to a $20 million operation. Before SCT, Malgesini led a $30 million campaign to restore and modernize Town Hall Seattle.
His hire is part of a long-planned succession strategy. PacSci’s board of directors and Daugherty agreed in early 2022 that he would serve as CEO through June 2026.
Malgesini’s aptitude for fundraising was one of the reasons the board was so enthusiastic about him, Daugherty said.
“What the institution needs most is to cultivate broader and deeper support, financial support from the community,” Daugherty said. “And that’s Kevin’s superpower.”
“The reality is PacSci is not currently receiving the level of philanthropic support it really can and should,” Malgesini said. “So when I see an organization that is providing a vital community resource but is not receiving the level of funding it needs, to me, there is clearly an opportunity there to do a better job telling the story of the impact.”
Attracting tourists will also be essential to success, Malgesini said.
“Pacific Science Center has something for all ages - and are we capturing our share of the tourist population in the summertime?” Malgesini said. “Every family on the cruise ship should be stopping at the Science Center as part of their day or two days in Seattle.”
Malgesini plans to take a few key team members to visit successful science centers across the country to learn who’s “knocking it out of the ballpark” in an effort to envision an updated, improved PacSci while maintaining its Northwestern spirit.
“My family has a long history with the Science Center. As Washingtonians, my dad came in ‘62 for the World’s Fair. I came growing up; I’m bringing my son now. That’s just one example of how broad the generational impact is for people in our region,” he said.
“The thing that is exciting to me about Pacific Science Center is the specificity of it. It’s the first science and technology center founded in the country,” he said. Since 1962, of course, so much has changed. The question now: “What do we want it to look like in 2035 and how do we start building towards that now?”
Material from The Seattle Times archives was used in this report.
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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 9:42 AM.