NEWPORT - There's a new big fish at the Newport Aquarium. Dr. Timothy J. Mullican, a consulting veterinarian to the Newport Aquarium since its planning stages four years ago, was introduced as the new executive director on Monday.

        The alumnus of the Aquavet program at Woods Hole, Mass., pledged to establish the facility as a “can't miss” Tristate attraction and promised to push for American Zoological Association accreditation for the facility.

        “When your relatives come in from out of town, I want you to say that you absolutely have to come here because it's so exciting,” Dr. Mullican said of the aquarium.

        The 44-year-old Columbia Tusculum resident succeeds John Tighe, the general manager who guided the Newport Aquarium from its beginning, but left in December.

        The position of executive director was created as part of a reorganization that combines the facility's business side with its marine biology aspects.

        “Tim is very, very familiar with how we operate and what we do,” said David Wechsler, executive vice president of the Newport Aquarium and the interim general manager. ”Aside from being a veterinarian, he has a very solid business background and management background.”

        Dr. Mullican said one of his first priorities will be to develop the Newport Aquarium as “a leader among institutions of its type.” That means a new conservation effort focus - everything from working with sea turtles to helping the endangered hellbender, a lizard-like amphibian found in the Licking River. He also will promote partnership with other aquariums throughout the country, and he will lead the effort to obtain accreditation by the American Zoological Association.

        The Silver Spring, Md.-based AZA counts 205 accredited institutions among its members, including the Cincinnati Zoo, as well as 36 aquariums, said Hillary Walker, a spokeswoman for AZA.

        The AZA-accredited aquariums include the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the Monterey Bay Aquarium near San Diego and the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

        “Accreditation is a sign that your peers have reviewed your institution and its processes from top to bottom and have found you to meet industry standards,” Dr. Mullican said.

        “I anticipate as we go through this next year that (finishing the process) of becoming AZA accredited will be one of the most important things that I do.”

        Dr. Mullican said the aquarium staff has finished a self-examination, and will be inspected by a three-person AZA team early next year. The Newport Aquarium should learn sometime in the first quarter of 2003 whether its accreditation bid is successful.

        Dr. Mullican was among a dozen people from throughout the country considered to lead the aquarium - a pool that included everyone from Procter & Gamble executives to employees of other zoos and aquariums, Mr. Wechsler said.

        He cited Dr. Mullican's familiarity with marine biology and the Newport Aquarium in particular, as well as his 18 years of veterinary, marketing and educational experience as assets that will serve the aquarium.

        “We want to be more than a tourist attraction,” Mr. Wechsler said. “We want to become a community treasure. We want to be a part of the community through education, through outreach and through memberships.”

        Dr. Mullican, an Evansville, Ind. native, has a bachelor of science in biology from the University of Dayton. In 1984, he graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University.

        As a practicing veterinarian, Dr. Mullican has worked at several regional racetracks, including River Downs, Turfway Park and Keeneland. He also worked with Observatory Group Inc., a Cincinnati-based marketing and communications company. He and his wife, Dawn, are parents to a son, Liam, 3, and a daughter, McKenna, 1.

        As executive director, Dr. Mullican will oversee the Newport Aquarium's daily operations, and develop and implement new exhibits and programs at the aquarium, which features 60 exhibits with thousands of aquatic creatures.

        As the anchor of the Newport on the Levee development, the privately-run aquarium drew 1.2 million visitors during its first year of operation, and it has operated in the black since its opening in May, 1999. Its attendance had dipped to 780,000 last year, which is not uncommon for zoos or aquariums after their initial year of operation, Mr. Wechsler said.

        “We understand that we have to continually evolve here to keep people interested and that we have to create a fun, exciting, entertaining experience for people to convince them to come back again and again,” Dr. Mullican said.

        “I'm truly looking forward to trying to convey my passion and interest in the aquatic animals that we house to the people in the community.”

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