A Punahou School graduate now working in California has been tapped as the new director of the Honolulu Zoo.

Jeffrey Wilkinson will assume the post effective April 1, Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced Wednesday.

Wilkinson will be returning to Honolulu after serving as chief operating officer of nonprofit St. John’s Program for Women and Children in Sacramento since 2011. Previously, he served as college director at ITT Technical Institute and president of Menco Inc., which sells consumable products to retailers. In total, he has more than 20 years of experience in executive roles.

"Jeffrey has strong management, marketing, and operations experience and we are happy to bring him home to Oahu," Caldwell said in a news release. "One of Jeffrey’s initial responsibilities will be to work toward the zoo’s reaccredita­­tion in 2016."