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Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe (TSCW) in Shoreham has appointed Kara Cannon, former CEO of Enzo Biochem, as executive director, effective immediately.
A Long Island native, Cannon brings more than three decades of global leadership experience. Her responsibilities include overseeing the continued restoration of Nikola Tesla’s Wardenclyffe laboratory, which had suffered damage from a 2023 fire. Additional responsibilities include expanding educational and public programming and leading the launch of the Eugene Sayan Visitor Center, the first structure on the site intended to welcome the public and support learning in science, technology, engineering and math.
Cannon succeeds former New York State Assemblyman Marc Alessi, who led the organization for nine years. She was selected through a national search and has served on the TSCW Board of Directors beginning in 2024.
“Kara Cannon emerged from a highly competitive national candidate pool as the clear choice to lead Tesla Science Center into its next chapter,” Richard Gearns, president of the TSCW Board of Directors, said in a news release about Cannon’s appointment.
“She brings the rare combination of scientific credibility, executive leadership, and personal passion for education that this moment demands,” Gearns said. “Most importantly, she shares Nikola Tesla’s belief that bold ideas and applied science can, and should, shape a better future.”
Throughout her career, Cannon has held leadership roles in science-focused organizations, helped bring advanced technologies to global markets and supported interdisciplinary collaboration. She has also contributed to Long Island’s innovation economy through job creation, scientific research, and programs aimed at developing future science and technology leaders.
“I am honored to lead Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe at such an exciting and meaningful moment,” Cannon said in the news release.
“Nikola Tesla changed the world with his imagination and scientific courage,” she added. “This site has the potential to inspire that same spirit in generations to come. Together with our team and partners, we will establish Wardenclyffe as a global center for imaginative thinking—one that preserves, restores and advances Tesla’s legacy through education and innovation.”
Cannon currently serves on the boards of New York Bio and Farmingdale State College, advises academic programs in science and health and mentors emerging entrepreneurs in the life sciences.
“Kara is uniquely prepared to lead a site of such historic and scientific importance,” Brent Glass, director emeritus of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, who oversaw the national recruitment search, said in the news release. “Her strategic mindset and passion for mission-driven work align perfectly with the center’s future.”
Founded on the site of Nikola Tesla’s only remaining laboratory, TSCW aims to advance a mission rooted in Long Island’s legacy of science, technology and innovation at the center, and also at such neighboring institutions as Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Construction of the original Wardenclyffe facility began in 1901 and included one of Tesla’s early concepts: a global, wireless system for communication and power transmission. The site featured a brick laboratory building and a 187-foot wooden tower. More than a century later, TSCW is preserving the site and its history while supporting programs in innovation, science and technology for people of all ages.
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Adina Genn
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