At the time of his death at Zoo Atlanta in 2000, Willie B. was arguably the most famous gorilla in the world. Locally, he was an icon with more than 8,000 people in attendance at his memorial service conducted by Atlanta's Mayor, Reverend Andrew Young. Zoo Atlanta's reform President/CEO, Georgia Tech Professor Terry Maple, was responsible for Willie B.'s transformation into a successful silverback. In a phrase, Professor Maple freed Willie B. to live in an urban Eden, the Ford African Rain Forest exhibit where he sired five off spring. His extraordinary story is described in this fascinating biography of his life.
The story of Willie B. is a metaphor for the Zoo Atlanta story, an institution that evolved from an industry pariah to become one of America's most innovative zoological parks. It is also Terry Maple's history of his eighteen years rebuilding the zoo and directing one of the most important behavioral research programs in the world. Because Maple and his students studied the zoo's metamorphosis in detail, it is the most documented recovery of a failed nonprofit in the nation's history. Zoo Atlanta has become a model for other zoos that have adopted a nonprofit governance model.
The reproductive record of the Ford African Rain Forest was acknowledged by the presentation of a prestigious Edward H. Bean Award for gorilla conservation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The evolution of naturalistic zoo exhibits is thoroughly documented in Professor Maple's comprehensive account.
Professor Terry L. Maple spent thirty years in academia on the faculty at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He retired from Tech as Elizabeth Smithgall Watts Professor Emeritus. He enjoyed a parallel career as a zoological executive, hired in 1984 by City of Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young to lead the privatization of Atlanta's city zoo. While reimagining and creating one of North America's most naturalistic zoo-logical parks, Professor Maple and his students published more than 250 books and papers during his eighteen years at the helm of the zoo. He spent an additional six years as the CEO of Palm Beach Zoo. He was the founding editor of the scientific journal Zoo Biology, and he was the first recipient of the Lifetime Contributions to Animal Welfare Award presented by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in 2018. In 2013, Springer-Verlag published Zoo Animal Welfare (coauthored by B. Perdue). His most recent book is Beyond Animal Welfare: The Art and Science of Wellness (Palmetto, 2019). As an organizational consultant, he was honored by Division 13 of the American Psychological Association with the Harry Levinson Award for his exceptional ability to integrate a wide range of psychological theory and concepts so managers may create more effective, healthy, and humane organizations. His honors for leadership include the Distinguished Psychologist in Management award presented by the Society of Psychologists in Management (SPIM). He is currently affiliated with the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, the University of North Florida, and Florida Atlantic University. Professor Maple and his wife Addie have three daughters and four grandchildren.
