His departure comes on the heels of 53 layoffs earlier this year at the beloved Golden Gate Park museum, a gut punch to an institution that's supposed to be one of San Francisco's crown jewels. When the boss walks out the door shortly after a major round of pink slips, it's rarely a coincidence and almost never a good sign.

Let's be clear about what happened here: a publicly supported cultural institution shed dozens of jobs, and now the person at the top is gone too. Whether Sampson jumped or was pushed matters less than the underlying question — how did things get this bad?

The Academy of Sciences isn't some scrappy startup burning through venture capital. It's a 170-year-old institution sitting on prime real estate in one of the most visited parks in the city. It charges $45 a pop for adult admission. It receives public funding and philanthropic support. And yet, somehow, the math stopped working.

This is a pattern we keep seeing across San Francisco's major institutions — rising costs, declining accountability, leadership turnover, and regular workers paying the price. Fifty-three people lost their jobs. Those are scientists, educators, and support staff who dedicated their careers to making the Academy run. They deserved better stewardship.

Whoever steps into the top role next needs to answer some uncomfortable questions. Where did the money go? What's the long-term financial plan? And how does an institution with this much going for it end up in a position where mass layoffs are the answer?

San Francisco doesn't have a shortage of resources. It has a shortage of leaders willing to manage them responsibly. Here's hoping the Academy's next chapter is written by someone who understands that.