After nine years at the helm of one of the Triangle's biggest economic engines, Scott Levitan is getting ready to hand over the keys to Research Triangle Park. The president and CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina will retire, and the board has tapped Jonathan C. Pruitt, a top executive with The University of Texas System and a former UNC System official, as the next president and CEO. The timing lines up with a pivotal moment, as the foundation shifts from planning into implementation of RTP 3.0, the decades-long land use and development vision for the park.
Transition plan and timing
According to a July 7 press release from Research Triangle Park, Levitan will retire on Oct. 2, 2026. Pruitt is set to join the foundation on Sept. 15, giving the two leaders about a month of overlap to manage the handoff. The board said Pruitt's appointment followed a national search that began in December 2025 and was overseen by Board Chair Barbara Mulkey.
Why this matters for the Triangle
The leadership change hits just as RTP 3.0, the foundation's 50-year land use framework, moves from planning into action. Recent votes by landowners and county boards opened the park to mixed use and residential development, approvals that supporters say clear the way for denser, more walkable districts inside the park. Those late June decisions were reported by Axios Raleigh and The News & Observer, setting the stage for a long-planned transformation of what has historically been a car-centric office park.
Levitan's record and the work ahead
Levitan joined the foundation in August 2017 and helped steer RTP through a major reinvention phase. Under his tenure, the foundation launched Frontier RTP, Boxyard RTP and Hub RTP, while also securing more than $100 million in infrastructure funding tied to the park's downtown initiative, according to the foundation. In the retirement announcement, Levitan wrote that "The true strength of Research Triangle Park has never been its land or buildings," as Research Triangle Park framed the leadership shift as a move from long-range planning to the hard work of implementation.
What's next
The board said Pruitt will be charged with delivering on RTP 3.0, deepening university and industry partnerships, and advancing Hub RTP, all while maintaining continuity during the fall transition period. Triangle Business Journal first reported the leadership change, noting that local coverage has cast it as a test of whether the park can turn fresh planning approvals into real projects. Foundation leaders say the overlap this fall is designed to help Pruitt get up to speed on the park's political and development landscape before Levitan officially steps aside in October.
