Chris Zachow, center, former MMNSF President, celebrating her retirement with current and past board members from left to right: Ashley Parker, Avery Rollins, Jackie Bailey, Sheila Smith, Susan Frazier (MMNSF Executive Director), Janice Larson, Opal Dakin, and LoRose Moore (Board Chair)
Honoring Chris Zachow
From Childhood Wonder to Lasting Legacy
by J.T. Mitchell, MMNSF Board Member
Museums have been part of Chris Zachow’s life for as long as she can remember.
Some of her fondest memories date back to when she was a young child growing up in Maryland when her father would load up the car with her and her brothers and make the short trip to Washington, D.C., where they would spend all day sifting through the Smithsonians along the National Mall.
“My dad worked as a ticket-seller, so he was on nights and weekends a lot. To give my mom a break from me and my brothers, he would take us to the Smithsonians, and we would go to all of them. It was great,” Zachow recounted. “I remember the push-button room, all the gems, the dinosaurs, and the art. It was a lot of fun to be able to do that and run free like that. There were always things to see and learn from.”
Zac Zachow, Dr. Steve Zachow, Chris Zachow, and Dr. Kim Zachow; not pictured Alix Zachow
Zachow never lost that childhood love for museums and the ever-giving knowledge each one offers. When she became an adult, moved to Mississippi, and started a family, she took a page from her father’s book and exposed not only her husband but also their children to every museum possible both locally and anywhere they would travel to. One local option quickly stood out among the rest: the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.
After countless trips to the old MMNS location at the fairgrounds, where Zachow and her family made plenty of memories exploring Mississippi’s wilderness through the dioramas and aquariums and watching the bees in their hives, she was offered a chance to play a key role in the future of MMNS and its then-new, and current, location at LeFleur’s Bluff State Park.
“The museum’s former director, Libby Hartfield, and I had met each other a couple of times. I had helped out with some stuff, and my kids and I had come a lot. I had twins, and people remember twins,” Zachow explained. “Libby came to me, we talked, and she asked if I wanted to be on the board. I said yes with no hesitation.”
In 2002, Zachow officially joined the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science Foundation Board of Directors. She was tasked with helping the supporting nonprofit secure funding through museum memberships and donations for future exhibits, education programs, and research. And she did a great job, too! Her hard work resulted in her being elected as the MMNSF Board’s vice president and then president in 2007.
Zachow – who since joining has served in “at least” most capacities the MMNSF Board offers, including treasurer and chair of the nominating committee – has put in over two decades of work to ensure MMNS can thrive.
Chris with a mammoth tusk at a Member Pop-Up party
From traveling to Washington to request federal funding to working with U.S. Customs to bring a must-see dinosaur exhibit across the ocean to purchasing waders needed by researchers for field work, there are countless examples that only begin to showcase what she’s done to bring a smile to thousands of children and adults alike.
She was also integral to the MMNS and MMNSF being able to return to operations and to steadily increase visitation each year, with near pre-pandemic numbers in FY24, after experiencing a months-long, forced shutdown in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
“I kept it running during the pandemic,” Zachow said when asked to share one of her proudest moments as MMNSF Board president. “But outside of that, being on the board has allowed me to do so many fun things that I never would have been able to do. I really do love this museum. I love the staff. People don’t realize all they do as well – all while having fun.”
Chris Zachow and former Museum Director Charles Knight (center) at the Space exhibit Premiere party with exhibit sponsors from Regions Bank and Trustmark.
Speaking of the fun that happens at MMNS, some of Zachow’s favorite exhibits that she’s helped land include “The Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not” in 2018 and “Space: A Journey to Our Future” in 2022. She especially loves the pop-up events the museum often hosts – events that include opossums teaching physics, turkeys trotting around the theater room, and Santa Claus diving into the aquarium to feed the fish!
“We’ve made some really good memories,” she said.
In 2024, Zachow led the charge on a strategic restructuring of MMNSF and brought aboard nonprofit professional Susan Frazier as executive director. The role of president was dissolved and Frazier, with guidance from Zachow, took over the organization’s leadership duties as Zachow looked toward a December 2025 retirement.
“It was a really good decision. The best decision I made in all those years was to get Susan involved to lead the foundation. Now, I can sail off into the sunset,” Zachow said.
As Zachow’s official retirement date of Dec. 31 nears, the MMNS and MMNSF have been taking time to celebrate her contributions. Earlier this month, a room packed full of current and previous MMNSF Board members, MMNS staff, and Zachow’s friends and family held a reception in her honor. Zachow, a turtle lover, was presented with a sawback turtle watercolor by local artist, and former MMNS special exhibits supervisor, Sam Beibers.
Left to Right: Susan Frazier, Museum Director Angel Rohnke, Chris Zachow, Gloria Walker, and Kelly Headley
“Chris’ decades-long dedication and service to the museum have been a tremendous gift,” Frazier said. “From her board leadership to her stewardship to sharing her enthusiasm for the work of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, she has excelled, and we’re so grateful for her.”
While Zachow will soon retire and plans to spend a lot of that free time visiting museums across the country, she won’t be a stranger to the MMNS. In fact, you may see her just as much if not more.
“I’ll probably visit even more than I do now,” she said, smiling big. “This is a great place.”