Universal Studios Hollywood has named Karen Irwin its new president and COO replacing Larry Kurzweil, who held the post for 17 years.

Irwin takes up her role effective December, with Kurzweil, who has overseen park additions such as the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter, leaving Universal after more than two decades in various positions to become president and CEO of the Los Angeles-based Lemonade Restaurant Group.

Irwin first joined Universal in 1990, working as part of the launch team for Universal Studios Florida. During a 26-year career she has acted as director of operations and director of Support Services for Food and Beverage, vice president of Merchandise Operations and vice president of Revenue Operations.

She was appointed senior vice president of Global Merchandise and Partnership Development in 2008, before being named executive vice president in the same role in 2015.

“Karen is creative, strategic, focused and a true leader and been at the forefront of our incredible growth in merchandise over the past decade. She has a wealth of operational and senior management experience in all facets of our business and was instrumental in all of the development of our incredible Harry Potter offerings,” said Thomas Williams, chair and CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts. “Karen is uniquely qualified for this important role and we look forward to welcoming her to this new chapter in her career.”