Report to the Regents

Fourth Quarter, Fiscal Year 2011

Josh Carter of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics was an author of a 

study in Science announcing the discovery of Kepler-16b, the fi rst confi rmed example of a 

circumbinary planet—a planet orbiting not one, but two stars.
Prepared by 

Offi ce of Policy and Analysis
Broadening Access: Visitation Summary

In fi scal year 2011, the Smithsonian counted 29.2 million visits to 

its museums in Washington, D.C. and New York, plus the National 

Zoological Park and Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center—very similar to 

the fi scal year 2010 fi gure of 29.9 million. 

Th e Smithsonian Redesign project has identifi ed “unique visitors” 

as the key Smithsonian-wide web visitation metric to be tracked 

going forward. In fi scal year 2011, the Smithsonian counted 

approximately 79 million unique visitors to its numerous websites. 

Because this metric diff ers from the web “visits” metric reported 

previously, this fi gure cannot be directly compared with the fi gures 

given in previous Reports to the Regents. 

Visits to Smithsonian Venues and Traveling Exhibitions

Fiscal Years 2009, 2010, and 2011 

A visitor in the Butterfl y Pavilion of the 

National Museum of Natural History 

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Anacostia

Renwick

Cooper -Hewitt-NY

Postal

Heye Center -NY

African Art

Ripley Center

Hirshhorn

Freer/Sackler

Reynolds Center

Udvar-Hazy

American Indian-Mall

SI Castle

National Zoo

American History

Natural History

Air and Space

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

Millions

Report to the Regents, January 2012 1
Grand Challenges Highlights 

Understanding the American Experience 

Research 

This quarter saw the publication of The Jefferson Bible: Smithsonian 

Edition, a full-color facsimile of Th omas Jeff erson’s unique work The 

Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, a rearranged and edited version 

of the New Testament gospels selected from printed texts in English, 

French, Latin, and Greek. Th is book was created from high-resolution 

digital photographs of Jeff erson’s original; it includes his handwritten 

notes and an introduction by National Museum of American History 

curators Harry R. Rubenstein and Barbara Clark Smith. 

Unlike other ethnic minorities in the United States, American Indians 

are defi ned not solely by self-designation, but by Federal, state, and 

tribal laws that often trace their origins to archaic notions of biological 

race. Th e implications of this were addressed in a symposium at the 

National Museum of the American Indian, “Quantum Leap: Does 

‘Indian Blood’ Still Matter?” 

Award-winning biographer Meryle Secrest was the inaugural speaker 

at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture series. Her lecture, 

“Worlds Apart: Romaine Brooks and Amedeo Modigliani,” was well-received by over 200 attendees. 

Th e publications offi ce of the National Museum of the American Indian issued the latest title in its 

NMAI Editions series, Past, Present, and Future Challenges of the National Museum of the American Indian,

and reprinted the popular title Living Homes for Cultural Expression: North American Native Perspectives on 

Creating Community Museums.

Broadening Access

In 2002, Congress designated the National Museum of American 

History as the offi cial repository for the material record of the 

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Virginia, and 

Pennsylvania. Objects, photographs, and documents related to the 

attacks are being permanently preserved in the museum’s collections 

to help future generations comprehend these events. Th is year, the 

museum marked the 10th anniversary of the attacks with September 

11: Remembrance and Reflection, a special short-term display of more 

than 50 objects from the three sites. Over 12,000 people viewed it 

in its nine-day run. To commemorate the occasion, the museum also 

hosted an online forum, “September 11: Conversations,” which invited 

Americans to discuss how their lives have changed since that fateful 

day, and the Smithsonian Channel aired the program 9/11: Stories in 

Fragments. Crushed Brooklyn Squad 1 

fi re truck door from the 9/11 

collections

2 Report to the Regents, January 2012
Th e National Museum of American History also convened a 

two-day online teacher conference, “September 11: Teaching 

Contemporary History,” which counted over 4,000 registered 

participants from 500 sites across the country—the largest 

teacher professional development program ever at the museum. 

Th e National Air and Space Museum turned 35 this year. On 

July 1, 1976, the museum welcomed the fi rst visitors to its 

new building on the National Mall as part of the country’s 

bicentennial celebration. It quickly became the most popular 

museum in the world, and has had over 300 million visits since it 

opened. Th e museum celebrated this milestone with screenings 

of the popular IMAX movie To Fly! at 1976 prices (50 cents 

for adults, 25 cents for children); a book signing with museum 

curators Michael Neufeld and Alex Spencer, authors of The 

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: An Autobiography;

the launch of a new website, “Celebrating 35 Years of Memories 

at the National Air and Space Museum”; and other special 

off erings.

Th e National Portrait Gallery launched two new exhibitions in 

the fourth quarter:

One Life: Ronald Reagan (July 1, 2011–May 28, 2012) opened to mark the centennial of 

President Reagan’s birth. 

Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter (August 12, 2011–October 14, 2012), a 

collaboration with the Asian Pacific American Program, is the Smithsonian’s fi rst major showcase 

of contemporary Asian American portraiture; it features works by seven artists.

In July, the U.S. Postal Service launched a stamp to honor Owney, the stray 

dog that became the unoffi cial mascot of the Railway Mail Service in the 

late 19th century, and whose far-fl ung travels have inspired several children’s 

books. To mark the occasion, the National Postal Museum

held a week-long festival of Owney-inspired family 

activities. More than 4,000 people visited the museum on 

the fi rst day of the festival. 

Th e National Postal Museum also launched the online 

microsite The Art of the Stamp: Owney the Postal Dog, which 

presents Bill Bonds’s original painting of Owney for the 

stamp, accompanied by six sketches that Bonds created as 

he developed the portrait and by images of fi ve tags (chosen 

from among the many given to Owney on his travels) that 

appear in the background on the stamp.

The exhibition The Great American Hall of Wonders (July 

15, 2011–January 8, 2012), organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the U.S. Patent 

and Trademark Office, examines the 19th-century belief that the people of the United States shared a 

special genius for innovation. It received national media attention in the New York Times, the Washington 

Post, BBC Radio, BBC World News America, NPR’s Weekend Edition, Associated Press, and Art 

Newspaper, among other media venues.

•

•

Th e National Air and Space Museum: the 

world’s most popular museum

Report to the Regents, January 2012 3
Exercise Your Mynd: BK Adams I AM ART (August 

22–November 27, 2011), the fi rst exhibition 

in the series “Call and Response: Community 

and Creativity,” was on display at the Anacostia 

Community Museum. It featured the work of the 

artist Bryant (BK) Adams, who has attracted a broad 

and devoted following in the D.C. area. 

Th e George Gustav Heye Center of the National 

Museum of the American Indian opened the 

exhibition Time Exposures: Picturing a History of the 

Isleta Pueblo in the 19th Century (September 17, 

2011–June 10, 2012), which tells the story of life 

on the Isleta Indian Reservation in the 19th century 

through 80 photographs by prominent western 

photographers and artists. 

The National Museum of American History’s History Alive! program featured two new interactive 

plays. Time Trial: John Brown placed visitors in the jury box to decide how history should remember 

this controversial figure, while Am I a Pirate? helped visitors separate myth from fact regarding North 

American piracy and privateering in the 18th century. More than 17,000 visitors took part. 

Th e Archives of American Art exhibition Little Pictures Big Lives opened in the Lawrence A. Fleischman 

Gallery at the Reynolds Center (July 1–October 3, 2011). It explored an earlier era of photography, 

off ering a selection of more than 100 images that provided an intimate look into artists’ lives.

Th e Smithsonian Institution Archives released a set of 25 portraits of 

fi gures from the famous State of Tennessee v. John Th omas Scopes trial 

of July 1925, which precipitated a nationwide debate over the teaching 

of Darwin’s theory of natural selection in public schools. Th ese rare 

photos were off ered for free to researchers and the public on the 

Smithsonian Flickr Commons. 

In tandem with the publication of President Jimmy Carter’s new book, 

White House Diary, The Smithsonian Associates presented a program in 

which Carter refl ected on his years at the White House in an interview 

with Ray Suarez of National Public Radio. 

Th e Smithsonian Latino Center brought American Sabor: Latinos in 

U.S. Popular Music to the International Gallery of the Ripley Center 

(July 11–October 9, 2011). Th is exhibition focused on fi ve centers of 

Latino popular music in America: New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, 

San Antonio, and San Francisco. 

Valuing World Cultures 

Research 

A Smithsonian Folkways team traveled to Otavalo, Ecuador, to record ritual fl ute music of the Cotama 

Kichwa community, a musical tradition that was nearly erased by a cholera epidemic in the 1990s. 

Folkways will publish the recording in 2012. 

Artist Sam Gilliam, Anacostia Community Museum Director 

Camille Akeju, and featured artist BK Adams at the opening of 

Exercise Your Mynd

Photo of John Scopes from the 

Smithsonian Institution Archives

4 Report to the Regents, January 2012
A book by National Museum of Natural History anthropologist Adrienne Kaeppler, Holophusicon—The 

Leverian Museum: An Eighteenth Century Institution of Science, Curiosity, and Art, traces the fate of the 

Sir Ashton Lever collection, which included important objects from the voyages of Captain James Cook, 

after it was sold in 1806 in 7,000 lots.

Th e Smithsonian Institution Libraries and Freer and Sackler Galleries hosted the seminar 

“Understanding Chinese Rare Books,” led by Princeton University Chinese book scholar Soren Edgren. 

Librarians from Harvard University, the Library of Congress, University of California Los Angeles, and 

Columbia University were among the attendees.

Broadening Access

Th e National Museum of African Art opened the exhibition Central 

Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley (September 14, 2011–

March 4, 2012), which explores the distinctive forms and functions of 

the area’s subregional arts. 

Th e National Museum of African Art also launched an app for iPhone 

and iPod Touch to accompany its Artists in Dialogue 2 exhibition, 

“Smithsonian: Artists in Dialogue 2.” Th e fi rst English-Portuguese 

bilingual app from the Smithsonian, it features video interviews with 

the artists, user-posted questions and comments for the artists, highresolution artwork images, and more. Th e exhibition will run through 

June 2012. 

Power/Play: China’s Empress Dowager at the Arthur M. Sackler 

Gallery (September 24, 2011–January 29, 2012) features a series of 

photographic portraits, taken in 1903 and 1904, of China’s Empress 

Dowager Cixi, the dominant political fi gure in the twilight years of the 

Qing dynasty. Th irty-six original glass-plate negatives from the Freer 

and Sackler Galleries archive form the basis of the exhibition. 

Over 1,300 people participated in the July 23 “All Th ings Gullah” 

family day at the Anacostia Community Museum,which included arts 

and crafts activities, demonstrations, storytelling, live entertainment, 

and a marketplace featuring crafts by artisans from the D.C. area and 

the coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 

Smithsonian Institution Libraries conservation librarians Vanessa 

Haight-Smith and Katie Wagner traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to 

assist with the Haiti Cultural Recovery Program. Th eir project focused 

on surface cleaning and re-housing the rare book collection from the 

Biblioteque Nationale d’Haiti. 

Smithsonian Folkways was selected for a list of “50 Best Music Blogs” 

by the website AudioProductionSchools.org. 

Th e Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage launched a new online exhibition, Malian Bogolan, 

focusing on artists from Mali who participated in the 2003 and 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festivals. 

Th e Smithsonian and China project, an initiative to establish partnerships between the Smithsonian and 

Chinese museums, received coverage in the Art Newspaper and China Cultural Heritage Daily, and on the 

Artists in Dialogue 2 app

Power/Play: China’s Empress Dowager

Report to the Regents, January 2012 5
websites of the National Museum of China and the Hunan Provincial Museum. Th e project is directed 

by Alice Tracy and Daisy Yiyou Wang of the Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Th e National Museum of African Art celebrated its annual community day. Th is year’s theme was “Th e 

Power of the Word”; the event featured music, dance, spoken word, art making, and a fashion show by 

Morgan State University’s fashion design department. 

Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet

Research: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)

SERC researchers and interns discovered a northern snakehead fi sh 

(Channa argus) in Maryland’s Rhode River. Th is is the fi rst report in 

this area of this invasive species from eastern Asia, and may indicate a 

range expansion of the snakehead population. Th e 

introduction of northern snakeheads to an ecosystem 

may cause declines in local fi sh and other organisms, 

with potentially serious environmental and economic 

consequences. 

A SERC team led by Jess Parker completed a tree 

census on a 16-hectare (40-acre) plot in Edgewater, 

Maryland, measuring every tree one centimeter or 

more in diameter—about 33,500 trees total. Th is 

census is one piece of the Smithsonian Institution 

Global Earth Observatories (SIGEO) project, a global 

network that tracks forest growth and climate change.

Research: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) 

Ninety-one publications were added to the 

STRI bibliography in the fourth quarter 

of fi scal year 2011. Of these, three were 

books: An Introduction to Animal Behavior: 

An Integrative Approach by Michael J. Ryan 

and Walter Wikzynoski; A Creole from 

Bocas del Toro: The Story of Carlos Reid

by STRI sociologist Stanley HeckadonMoreno; and Deceptive Beauties: The World 

of Wild Orchids by STRI communication 

associate Christian Ziegler. Six articles were 

published in the top research journals Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In a study published in Paleontology, STRI’s Carlos Jaramillo and his co-authors describe a large (20-

foot), extinct crocodyliform species whose remains were discovered in the same Colombian coal mine as 

those of the extinct Titanoboa, the largest snake ever known. Th is 60-million-year-old freshwater relative 

of modern crocodiles specialized in eating fi sh, implying that it competed with the Titanoboa for food. 

However, the giant snake might also have consumed its competition, according to the study.

Th e northern snakehead

6 Report to the Regents, January 2012
Th e wing patterns in Heliconius butterfl ies 

fascinate collectors, but the genetic code 

behind them long eluded scientists. Because 

red patterns evolved independently in many 

butterfl y species, researchers thought that 

diff erent genes coded for the patterns in each 

species. However, STRI researchers have now 

discovered that a single gene codes for all red 

wing patterns in Heliconius species across the 

Americas, and the variety in patterns seems to 

be due to the way the gene is regulated. 

Chance events may be extremely important 

in the history of life. A recent study in 

Proceedings of the Royal Society B indicates that horn snails (Cerithideopsis spp.) successfully crossed 

Central America, long considered an impenetrable barrier to marine organisms, twice in the past 

million years, probably by sticking to fl ying shorebirds. Th e lead author was Osamu Miura, a former 

postdoctoral fellow at STRI, and co-authors included STRI’s Mark Torchin and Eldredge Bermingham.

According to a new study published in Science that was co-authored by STRI research associate Liza 

Comita History and geology, not current ecology, are likely what has made tropical forests so biologically 

diverse. Th e same ecological processes seem to be working worldwide, and forests in temperate regions 

such as North America and Europe have much more in common with tropical rainforests than previously 

believed; the main diff erence is simply that tropical organisms have been accumulating for longer periods 

of time. 

Research: National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)

Scientists from NMNH and partnering 

organizations discovered an eel off the coast 

of the Republic of Palau with primitive 

anatomical features unknown in any other 

living eels, resulting in its classifi cation as a 

new species belonging to a new genus and 

family. Th e team’s research was published 

online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 

Th ese fi ndings are comparable to the discovery 

in the late 1930s of a living coelacanth—a 

species that had been thought long extinct.

Research: National Zoological Park (NZP) 

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI)

In fi scal year 2011, SCBI researchers produced 48 peer-reviewed scientifi c publications, including 23 in 

high-impact journals.

Th e White House announced that Pierre Comizzoli, a cryobiologist in SCBI’s Center for Species 

Survival, would receive a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor 

bestowed by the U.S. government on science professionals in the early stages of their research careers. 

Heliconius butterfl ies

Th e world’s most primitive eel: new species, genus, and family 

Report to the Regents, January 2012 7
SCBI and several partners recently collaborated on an innovative 

citizen-science initiative called Global Amphibian Bioblitz, 

dubbed a “Facebook for Frogs” by the media. Its goal is to 

gather current, geolocated photographs of every amphibian 

species on the planet. 

SCBI’s Mary Hagedorn was part of an international team that 

went to Belize in August 2011 on an expedition to conserve the 

endangered Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis), which spawns 

off of Smithsonian’s Carrie Bow Cay Marine Station. Despite 

enormous logistical challenges, it proved to be a very successful 

conservation eff ort, resulting in the cryopreservation of millions 

of frozen embryonic cells. 

Other Research

The National Museum of the American Indian hosted the 

symposium “Creating a Climate of Change: A Sustainable 

Future for the Living Earth.” Acclaimed social thinker Jeremy 

Rifkin joined author-educators Gregory Cajete and 

Melissa K. Nelson to explore how modern society can connect 

with the traditions of Native peoples and incorporate the values 

of sustainability in our wider culture.

Broadening Access 

Several new exhibitions exploring the natural world and humankind’s place in it opened at the National 

Museum of Natural History:

More Than Meets the Eye (July 23, 2011–November 4, 2012) focuses on the tools, skills, and 

technologies that scientists use to examine species and cultures up close and in detail: scanning 

electron microscopes, 3-D lasers, X-rays and CT scanners, video and stop-action photography, 

and more. 

Th e bilingual Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine (August 5, 2011–May 2012) examines 

the extraordinary rescue of 33 Chilean miners after nearly two months trapped in a collapsed 

mine, setting this drama within the geologic context of northern Chile. 

The Bright Beneath: The Luminous Art of Shih Chieh Huang (September 3, 2011–January 8, 

2012) featured works by a 2007 Smithsonian Artist 

Research Fellow that evoke the bioluminescence of 

creatures residing in the dark depths of the oceans. 

Th e National Museum of the American Indian hosted its 

second annual Living Earth Festival, featuring three full days 

of events including movies, music, an educational symposium, 

and indigenous cooking and craft demonstrations. Th e Festival 

coincided with the opening of Conversations with the Earth: 

Indigenous Voices on Climate Change (July 22, 2011–January 

2, 2012), an exhibition that provided a Native perspective on 

global climate change. 

•

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•

Exhibitions at the National Museum of Natural 

History included More Th an Meets the Eye (top) and 

Th e Bright Beneath (bottom) 

Conversations with the Earth

8 Report to the Regents, January 2012
Th e Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), a collaborative project hosted by the National Museum of Natural 

History, is an online encyclopedia that aims to document all 1.9 million living species known to science. 

A redesigned platform—EOLv2—was launched in September 2011 in response to requests for a site that 

was more engaging, accessible, and personal. EOLv2 currently hosts nearly 670,000 species pages, as well 

as more than 93,100 volumes and 34.7 million pages from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. 

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe

Research: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO)

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) 

During this quarter, SAO scientists’ research appeared in 127 

peer-reviewed papers and 71 non-peer-reviewed articles at 

meetings, conferences, or other venues. Among the highimpact scientifi c journals carrying this research were Nature 

(fi ve articles) and Science (six articles). 

Josh Carter of CfA was an author of a study in Science 

announcing the discovery of Kepler-16b, an exoplanet that 

orbits a pair of stars approximately 200 light-years from Earth. 

Kepler-16b is the fi rst confi rmed example of a circumbinary 

planet—a planet orbiting not one, but two stars. Its discovery 

demonstrates the amazing diversity of planets in our galaxy.

Although the inner regions of our galaxy are heavily 

masked by dust, the new infrared Herschel Space 

Telescope has allowed CfA astronomers to create and 

publish a detailed map of this entire neighborhood in 

the faint emission from that dust. It reveals clusters of 

massive star formations, sweeping bright arcs of material 

shaped by the galaxy’s winds and magnetic fi elds, and 

dark reservoirs of cold dust. 

Using SAO’s VERITAS gamma ray telescope, 

astronomers were surprised to detect extremely bright, 

pulsating gamma ray emissions coming from the famous 

Crab Nebula, the spinning remains of a supernova 

explosion in 1054 C.E. Few had expected to see 

emissions this energetic—a million times more energetic 

than medical X-rays and 100 billion times more than 

visible light—from this source. Th is fi nding challenges 

our existing understanding of gamma ray emissions. 

Popular Science magazine selected CfA astronomer Justin Kasper as one of this year’s “Brilliant Ten” 

scientists for his work developing an instrument that will literally touch the sun, providing the fi rst 

opportunity to directly sample its outer atmosphere. Kasper was also recently honored with a prestigious 

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Artist’s conception of sunrise over Kepler-16b

Th e Crab Nebula

Report to the Regents, January 2012 9
Using a SAO-built spacecraft instrument to capture fl aring 

activity in high spatial resolution images, CfA astronomers 

have discovered that hot loops in the sun’s corona have fl aring, 

fi lamentary substructures that help to generate the dramatic high 

temperatures there. 

Research: National Air and Space Museum (NASM) 

Center for Earth and Planetary Studies (CEPS) 

At a press conference on July 22, 2011, at the NASM Mall 

building, NASA announced the landing site for the Mars Science 

Laboratory, a new rover mission that will assess the planet’s ability to support microbial life. CEPS 

researcher John Grant, a member of the science teams for the earlier Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity,

was co-chair of the landing site steering committee and will play a signifi cant role on the mission science 

team when the Mars Science Laboratory rover 

Curiosity lands in August 2012. 

Th e fi rst results of the orbital phase of the 

MESSENGER mission to Mercury were published 

in Science in September 2011, with CEPS’s Tom 

Watters as coauthor of a paper that describes vast 

volcanic plains in the northern high latitudes. 

Additionally, Tim McCoy of the National 

Museum of Natural History co-authored three 

papers that describe Mercury as rich in volatile 

elements like potassium and sulfur, which sharply 

contrasts with earlier models of the planet’s origins. 

Broadening Access 

Research results from the Smithsonian 

Astrophysical Observatory were featured in two 

New York Times popular science articles during 

this quarter. Th e Observatory-administered 

Astrophysics Data System website, which provides 

global open access to astronomy and astrophysics 

literature, recorded over 320 million hits. 

Th e National Air and Space Museum’s Public 

Observatory participated in Astronomy Night on 

the National Mall, an event organized by Donald 

Lubowich of Hofstra University to share astronomy 

with the public. Guided by museum interns, 

volunteers, and staff , approximately 300 visitors to 

the Observatory viewed Saturn, the moon, and the 

double star Albireo through the facility’s 16-inch 

telescope and several portable telescopes.

A new view of the sun’s corona

Curiosity—the latest and largest Mars rover

Astronomy Night on the National Mall

10 Report to the Regents, January 2012
Crossing Boundaries 

Research 

During fi scal year 2011, the Museum Conservation Institute worked on 187 projects with 18 

Smithsonian museums and eight Smithsonian research centers, as well as external clients such as the 

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Homeland Security, Department of 

State, and other government agencies, conservation groups, universities, and foreign agencies. 

Anne Goodyear of the National Portrait Gallery staged a conference on “Collecting, Exhibiting, 

and Preserving Time-Based Media Art at the Smithsonian,” which also featured presenters from the 

Hirshhorn, Freer and Sackler Galleries, National Museum of African Art, and Office of the Chief 

Information Officer, and external guests such as artist Jason Salavon, whose works have been displayed at 

the Portrait Gallery and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.

Separating authentic antique silks from modern re-creations has long been more of an art than a science, 

because radiocarbon dating required so much material that it would disfi gure delicate silk works. 

However, the Museum Conservation Institute’s Mehdi Moini, Mary Ballard, and Kathryn Klauenberg 

recently published a new method for estimating the age of silks based on a technique called amino acid 

racemization, which is fast and reliable and requires only a tiny sample.

Broadening Access 

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

hosted a reception at the Hirshhorn for 

the 2011 National Design Award winners, 

fi nalists, jurors, and other honored guests. Th e 

following day, First Lady Michelle Obama 

celebrated the Awards with a White House 

ceremony for the winners and fi nalists. Before 

this ceremony, Award winners participated in 

the Teen Design Fair, an education program for 

local high school students.

Th e exhibition Quicktake: Stamps of Approval

(August 12–September 25, 2011) at CooperHewitt featured the work of the pioneering 

American industrial designers recognized 

by the U.S. Postal Service in a new series of 

Forever stamps. Th is exhibition is now on 

display at the Smithsonian Castle. 

Th e Smithsonian Institution Archives

announced the launch of its redesigned 

website, with features including a collections 

search function that provides online access to 

all Archives records cataloged to date; pages 

on the history of the Smithsonian and its 

museums and research centers; access to more 

than 4,000 fi nding aids; and online forums for the public to ask questions and get tips. 

National Design Awards Lifetime Achievement winner Matthew Carter 

speaks to students at the Teen Design Fair

Quicktake: Stamps of Approval

Report to the Regents, January 2012 11
Th e Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden opened the exhibition Andy Warhol: Shadows, which 

marked the fi rst time that all 102 panels of Warhol’s stunning work Shadows have been on public view. 

In conjunction with the exhibition Race: Are We So Different? at the National Museum of Natural 

History, The Smithsonian Associates presented seven programs, including a “Mingle at the Museum” 

featuring a discussion among Smithsonian scholars about ideas that shape our cultural identities.

Strengthening Collections

The National Museum of African American History 

and Culture (NMAAHC), assisted by the National 

Air and Space Museum (NASM), acquired a major 

artifact for the former’s collection: The Spirit of 

Tuskegee, one of the few surviving planes used to 

train the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black corps that 

served in the Army during World War II. It will 

be on display at NASM’s Udvar-Hazy Center until 

NMAAHC opens on the National Mall in 2015. 

An important collection of Tibetan Buddhist art was 

donated to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Julian 

Raby, director of the Freer and Sackler Galleries,

announced the gift in the presence of the Dalai Lama 

and the donor, Alice S. Kandell. Th e collection will 

signifi cantly transform the Sackler’s collection of 

Himalayan art.

Th e National Museum of Natural History recently 

acquired the “Dom Pedro” aquamarine obelisk. Cut 

from a single beryl crystal in 1992 by gemstone 

designer Bernd Munsteiner, it is the largest single 

piece of cut and polished aquamarine in the world 

to date. It measures 35 centimeters (14 inches) in 

height and weighs 10,395 

carats (nearly 5 pounds). 

Th e National Zoological Park’s 

living collections—including 

many rare and endangered 

species—grew through both 

births and acquisitions:

Th e Spirit of Tuskegee at the Udvar-Hazy Center

Left to right: Donor Alice Kandell, the Dalai Lama, Freer and 

Sackler Galleries Director Julian Raby, curator Debra Diamond

Th e Dom Pedro

A Persian onager foal—a donkey-like member of the Equidae (horse) family—

was born at the Zoo’s Front Royal facility; 

Th e most recent addition to the tufted deer population at Front Royal is a 

female fawn, born July 23—the fi rst of this species born there since 2009. 

•

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12 Report to the Regents, January 2012
Th e black-footed ferret breeding 

program had a record-breaking year, 

with 50 surviving kits. Once thought 

to be extinct in the wild, a small 

population of 24 black-footed ferrets 

was discovered in Wyoming in 1981, 

and 30 years later the species’ future is 

brighter than ever. Today, more than 

1,000 of these ferrets exist in the wild 

as a result of a successful reintroduction 

program at six breeding institutions, 

including the Smithsonian. 

Th e National Portrait Gallery commissioned 

a photographic portrait of food pioneer Alice 

Waters, founder of the Chez Panisse Restaurant 

and Cafe and the Edible Schoolyard, and 

champion of the Slow Food movement. The portrait was created by Dave Woody, the first-place winner 

in the Gallery’s 2009 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. It was first unveiled on August 26 at 

the University of California, Berkeley, as a part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the restaurant’s 

founding. It will be installed at the Portrait Gallery in January 2012. 

Broadening Access: Education and Outreach

On September 20, 2011, the Smithsonian hosted 

Congressional Family Night at the National Museum 

of American History. The event opened the Museum 

to members of Congress, their professional staff, and 

their families to explore exhibitions, meet curators, 

enjoy food and music, and interact with living history 

interpreters portraying George Washington, Thomas 

Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. 

It included a private reception at which Smithsonian 

Secretary G. Wayne Clough and Smithsonian Regent 

Senator Patrick Leahy delivered remarks. 

Smithsonian Affiliations off ers museums and other 

cultural and educational organizations access to the 

Smithsonian’s collections and other resources. At the 

end of the fi scal year, there were 169 Affi liates in 40 states, Panama, and Puerto Rico. In this quarter:

Th e Smithsonian welcomed two new Affi liates: the Yankee Air Museum (Belleville, Missouri) and 

Columbia Memorial Space Center (Downey, California). 

Sixty-eight artifacts were loaned to Affi liate organizations; 1,326 Smithsonian artifacts were on 

view at Affi liate organizations.

Nineteen Smithsonian staff participated in programs and events with Affi liates.

•

•

•

•

Dave Woody’s portrait of Alice Waters

Smithsonian Congressional Family Night 

Report to the Regents, January 2012 13
Th e Smithsonian Institution Traveling 

Exhibition Service (SITES) continued to sustain 

a high level of outreach activity. In fi scal year 

2011, SITES circulated 52 exhibitions to 492 

venues in all 50 states, plus the District of 

Columbia, Guam, and U.S. military bases in 10 

countries. In the fourth quarter, SITES launched 

two exhibitions on national tours: 

William H. Johnson: An American Modern,

featuring works by a pivotal fi gure in 

modern American art, went on display 

at Gari Melchers Home and Studio at 

the University of Mary Washington in 

Fredericksburg, Virginia. A companion 

book was co-published by SITES and the 

University of Washington Press. 

The Way We Worked, the newest Museum 

on Main Street exhibition, launched 

statewide tours in Illinois, Tennessee, and 

West Virginia in collaboration with each 

state’s humanities council. 

In collaboration with the Office of the Chief 

Information Officer, SITES launched its fi rst 

mobile app, “Stories from Main Street,” which quickly made the list of “What’s Hot” on iTunes. 

Th e National Science Resources Center (NSRC), a partnership between the Smithsonian and the 

National Academies, remained active in promoting reform in the teaching of science. 

•

•

Images from Th e Way We Worked

NSRC teacher professional development

NSRC held its annual International K–12 Science 

Education Institute for Leadership Development 

and Strategic Planning in Alexandria, Virginia. Ten 

leadership teams from Mexico, Oman, Th ailand, 

and several U.S. states attended.

Workshops were held in Texas and New Mexico 

to give over 700 teachers initial training in NSRC 

Science and Technology Concepts curricular materials 

that they will use with their students in the 2011–

12 school year. 

•

•

Th irty-nine teachers from seven states attended the NSRC’s week-long Smithsonian Science 

Education Academies for Teachers, featuring scientists, curators, and educators from the 

Smithsonian and other D.C. organizations. 

Teacher’s guides were published for the latest eight additions to the NSRC’s Science and 

Technology Concepts series. Th e complete series consists of 24 books for grades K–6 that 

introduce a variety of subjects in life, earth, and physical sciences. 

•

•

14 Report to the Regents, January 2012
Th e Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies 

(SCEMS) continued to off er a variety of educational outreach 

off erings, including the fall 2011 issue of Smithsonian in 

Your Classroom titled “What’s Your Problem? A Look at the 

Environment in Your Own Backyard.” Inspired by a second-grade 

class in Colorado that took on the problem of deer overpopulation 

in its town after participating in a SCEMS online conference, this 

issue off ers ideas for local environmental action projects. 

In collaboration with the Smithsonian Accessibility Program, 

SCEMS also held a two-week “All Access Digital Arts Camp” for 

high-school students with cognitive and physical disabilities. 

Th e Hirshhorn conducted the discussion series “Lunch Bytes: 

Copy Culture” in collaboration with the Goethe Institut. It 

examined the increasing ubiquity of new media in the art world.

Th e National Postal Museum hosted a series of Ed Lab workshops 

for teachers, at which partcipants were challenged to use new media tools to generate creative learning 

opportunities for their students, using the rich material culture resources of the Smithsonian.

Th e National Portrait Gallery, Hirshhorn, and D.C. Public Library presented “Portraits after 5: 

Teen Edition” in the Kogod Courtyard of the Reynolds Center. Over 700 participants, many from 

underserved local communities, took part in the program, which focused on art, identity, and fashion. 

Fifty-four middle- and high-school teachers—selected from over 100 applicants from 29 states, D.C., 

Guam, Puerto Rico, and Bahrain—attended the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s 2011 Clarice 

Smith National Teacher Institutes, which help teachers integrate artwork into their social studies and 

language arts classes. 

The Smithsonian Associates presented 79 weeklong Smithsonian-inspired summer camps for over 1600 

children ranging from pre–K to 9th grade. Th e camps focused on a variety of themes including visual 

art, theater, world cultures, space travel, ecosystems, video games, and history. In partnership with the 

National Museum of Natural History, Associates also held six sold-out sleepovers, at which explorations 

of the museum’s halls were followed by an IMAX fi lm and a night in the Sant Ocean Hall.

Organizational Excellence

Leadership Milestones

In September, France Córdova was elected chair of the Smithsonian’s governing 

Board of Regents; her three-year term begins in January 2012. She will succeed 

Patty Stonesifer, who has served as chair since January 2009 and will become 

vice chair. Dr. Córdova, an astrophysicist and president of Purdue University in 

Indiana, has been a member of the Board since 2009. 

France Córdova

Report to the Regents, January 2012 15
Information Technology

Th e Smithsonian continued to expand its social media presence in 2011. With Americans now spending 

about a quarter of their online time on social networks, website visits have dipped, and Smithsonian web 

personnel have attacked this challenge head-on, developing nearly 200 Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter 

accounts. With Facebook and YouTube currently the fi rst- and second-most-visited websites in the world 

(and Twitter at number 15), maintaining a high-quality Smithsonian presence on these sites has become 

an important key to building online audiences. 

Th e Smithsonian has become an initial 

partner in Google’s YouTube.com/Education 

initiative. Presently, many school systems 

block YouTube—including the Smithsonian’s 

extensive YouTube content—due to concerns 

about inappropriate content. Th e YouTube.

com/Education service will off er screened 

content acceptable for distribution in an 

educational setting. Smithsonian YouTube 

channels have been approved for inclusion 

in the service rollout, greatly increasing the 

Smithsonian’s visibility among educators and 

students.

Th e Smithsonian is also among the fi rst non-profi t organizations to provide global access to ad-free 

YouTube live streaming, via the Smithsonian’s central SmithsonianVideos YouTube account. 

Th e Office of the Chief Information Officer’s Web Analytics Program is helping units determine who 

their websites reach and how to better connect with these audiences. In addition to providing basic 

visitation statistics, the program is working with several units (including the Smithsonian Institution 

Archives, National Museum of Natural History, and Smithsonian American Art Museum) to better 

align website activity and unit objectives. 

Th e new Office of Research Information Services (ORIS) is working with Smithsonian researchers to 

create a research support environment that promotes access to and preservation of digital information. 

ORIS will soon begin testing an integrated set of software tools developed while working on test bed 

projects across Smithsonian science units. 

Albert Horvath Marc Pachter

Albert G. Horvath was named Under Secretary for 

Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Offi cer 

of the Smithsonian. Horvath succeeds Alison McNally, 

who will advise the Secretary on Smithsonian-wide 

fi nancial projects. Although the CFO previously had 

been a separate position, the Under Secretary also will 

serve as CFO under the new organizational structure. 

Marc Pachter, former director of the National Portrait 

Gallery, was appointed acting director of the National 

Museum of American History. Pachter was with the 

Smithsonian for 33 years, beginning in 1974, and 

served as Portrait Gallery Director from 2000 until his 

retirement in 2007.

16 Report to the Regents, January 2012
Th e Smithsonian Institution Archives participated in 

the launch of the Historypin website, which utilizes 

geo-tagging data to “pin” historic photos on top of 

contemporary Google Street View Maps to produce 

a snapshot of the changing face of local streets and 

landmarks. Th e Archives contributed 70 photos from its 

collection that document buildings on the National Mall 

from 1870 to 2002.

Th e National Postal Museum launched a new augmentedreality experience that brings to life a barking, trotting 

3-D image of Owney the dog, an early mascot of the Railway Mail Service. Th e experience, off ered via 

both iPhone and Web applications, is the fi rst multidimensional, augmented-reality experience triggered 

by a U.S. postage stamp. It “comes to life” when the new Owney postage stamp is viewed via a free 

iPhone app available from the Apple iTunes Store or the museum’s special webcam page. 

Th e Smithsonian Institution Libraries, in partnership with Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press,

has converted works from the Press’s Smithsonian Contributions and Studies Series to digital formats 

for use on Kindles, Nooks, and other e-readers. Th e electronic formats, which are off ered at no cost, will 

eliminate the problem of maintaining physical stocks and will expand access to this research.

Major Construction, Renovation, and Facilities Projects

National Zoological Park, General Services Building and North Road Retaining Wall

$33.8 million total estimated project cost

Th e $8.3 million Phase I of the project, funded over fi scal years 2004–2011, is nearly complete. It 

includes immediate repairs to the General Services Building (GSB), design of permanent structural 

and safety upgrades, and relocation of the Vehicle Maintenance Branch to Suitland, Maryland. Phase 

II includes $25.5 million for GSB construction and replacement of an adjacent retaining wall. A 

supplemental environmental assessment for the retaining wall began in May 2011, and is expected to 

conclude in spring 2012. Federal funding has been requested for fi scal years 2012–2014 for construction 

of the retaining wall and GSB upgrades.

National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute 

Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies Partnership

$37.47 million total estimated project cost

Construction of the joint Smithsonian-Mason program facilities is well under way in Front Royal, 

Virginia. George Mason University is building residential and dining facilities funded through a 

$20 million state bond, while the Smithsonian is renovating and expanding an existing building to house 

classrooms, laboratories, and faculty offi ces for a new education center. A single construction contract for 

the education center and concurrent utility upgrades was awarded in May 2011; work was approximately 

12 percent complete at the end of fi scal year 2011. Th e total cost of this work is $15.6 million—

$10.6 million in Federal funds in fi scal years 2010–2012, and $5 million in private funds. All facilities 

are projected to be complete for the start of the fall 2012 semester.

Report to the Regents, January 2012 17
National Zoological Park, Asia Trail II: Elephant Trails

$54.3 million estimated total project and program cost

Th e second phase of the Asia Trail project has a projected cost of $54.3 million—$39.48 million Federal 

(received in fi scal years 2006–2012) and $14.82 million Trust. Construction of the new elephant barn 

and two of three outdoor habitats was completed in 2010, and work on the elephant community center 

was 53 percent complete as of the end of fi scal year 2011. Additional private funding is being sought for 

the fi nal habitat, and the project is now scheduled to be fi nished in 2013.

National Zoological Park, Seal / Sea Lion Exhibit

$40.4 million total estimated project cost

Th e Zoo’s Seal/Sea Lion exhibit is being revitalized to meet standards for animal care and to improve 

accessibility. Th e project also includes an upgrade of underground utilities in the Beaver Valley area. 

Construction is approximately 65 percent complete and is projected to be fi nished in mid-2012. Th e 

non-capital, interpretive component of the project will be funded with $1 million in Trust funds, while 

the Federal capital contribution is approximately $39.4 million in fi scal years 2009–2012.

Arts and Industries Building (AIB)

$52.8 million estimated cost for shell only

Construction on the AIB shell revitalization 

project (structural upgrades and replacement of 

the roof and windows) was 25 percent complete 

at the end of fi scal year 2011, and is expected to 

be fi nished by spring 2013. Signifi cant areas of 

the old roof have been removed and new steel 

framing, replicating the appearance of the original 

iron trusses, is being installed in the halls. Project 

funding consists of $30 million from the Federal 

Legacy Fund, $15 million from Federal facilities 

capital funds, and the rest from private gifts. Design scope and budget defi nition are under way for 

an adjoining underground services building shared with the Castle. Anticipated reductions in Federal 

appropriations, however, have pushed the funding for its construction into fi scal year 2014 or beyond.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

$500 million total estimated project cost

All design and construction milestones were met in fi scal year 2011, and required presentations to the 

Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission were made. Th e Record of 

Decision with a fi nal environmental impact statement was submitted; the Section 106 Historic Resources 

programmatic agreement was signed; and the relocation of a gas main on the site was completed. A 

construction management fi rm was selected mid-2011, and has begun assisting with the coordination of 

design and construction issues for a more effi cient start in fall 2012. Th e museum continues the concept 

phase of exhibit design with Ralph Appelbaum Associates. Total project costs are to be shared evenly, 

with $250 million from Federal capital funds and $250 million from non-Federal sources.

18 Report to the Regents, January 2012
National Postal Museum, New Program Space

$18.2 million total estimated project cost

Th e National Postal Museum, located in the historic Washington, D.C., City Post Offi ce Building, 

has been given 12,000 square feet of space and use of a central hall by the U.S. Postal Service. Using 

funds from non-Federal sources, this new space will be transformed into a philatelic center and a visitor 

orientation space. Design was completed in late summer 2011, with construction to start in 2012 and to 

be completed for a 2013 opening.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa Laboratory Facilities

$19.4 million total estimated project cost

Th e Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is building a new terrestrial science lab on its recently 

acquired Gamboa site to replace outdated facilities; the project is funded with $15.94 million in Federal 

and $3.46 million in Trust funds. Programming, design, and selection of construction management are 

complete, with construction to begin shortly after the end of the fi scal year.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Mathias Replacement Laboratory Project

$50.66 million total estimated project cost

Th e Smithsonian Environmental Research Center is eliminating trailers that house lab space and 

offi ces; renovating and reconfi guring the Mathias Lab; and creating replacement labs that meet national 

standards. Th e 95,000-square-foot project employs sustainable technologies and building materials that 

will yield substantial reductions in energy and maintenance costs. Following a groundbreaking ceremony 

in May 2011, construction began in June 2011 and is expected to be complete by mid-2014.

National Museum of Natural History, Main Building Ground Floor and Mezzanine

$24.0 million total project cost

Th e entire north ground fl oor of the main Natural History Building is under renovation. Th e 15,500-

square-foot west end of the fl oor will become a new education center, and the 27,600-square-foot east 

end will house an expanded Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, renovated Smithsonian Institution 

Libraries facilities, a paleobiology laboratory, and a consolidated facility support operations center. Th e 

project was awarded for construction in December 2010, with completion planned for mid-2012.

National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center

Revitalization of west wing public spaces, package III: $60 million total project cost

Th e third phase of renovation at the National Museum of American History will focus on three west 

wing public spaces. Data gathering, fi eld surveys of existing conditions, schematic design, and 95 percent 

construction documents have been completed. Final construction documents were expected shortly 

after the end of the fi scal year, and construction will begin in spring 2012. Th e Federal appropriation for 

design ($6 million) was received in fi scal years 2009 and 2010. Initial construction funding of $5 million 

was received in fi scal year 2011, with the remainder ($49 million) requested for fi scal years 2012–2014.

Report to the Regents, January 2012 19
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

$57.7 million total estimated project cost

Th e renovation of the Fox-Miller townhouses was completed in late summer 2011. Design for the 

Carnegie Mansion renovation was completed in April 2011, with a construction contract awarded near 

the end of fi scal year 2011. Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2013. Total project costs 

include $26.5 million in Federal funds and $31.2 million in private funds. Shortly after the end of the 

fi scal year, the museum successfully met its renovation fundraising goal of $54 million, comprised of 

Federal, state, city, and private funds (gifts and pledges). 

Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture

$19.5 million total estimated project cost

Th e Smithsonian will complete the renovation of the Reynolds Center with the reconstruction of the 

F Street stairs and the addition of landscaping and security. Costs are estimated to be $9.5 million in 

Federal funds and $10.0 million in Trust funds.

Museum Support Center of the National Museum of Natural History, Pod 3

$38.5 million total estimated project cost

Renovations have been completed on Pod 3 in Suitland, Maryland, which provides consolidated storage 

space for several types of collections. Transfer of collections from four museums is under way and is 

expected to be complete by June 2012 and cost almost $2 million.

Permanent Physical Security Barriers

$55 million total project cost

Security barriers at the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History 

are complete. Barrier construction at the National Museum of Natural History was completed in mid2011, with landscape completion expected by the end of the year. Design of barriers for the Castle and 

Quadrangle will start in fi scal year 2016, and work on off -Mall barriers will follow in order of priority.

Sustainability

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifi cation from the United States Green 

Building Council (USGBC) off ers objective, third-party validation of the environmentally-friendly 

characteristics of a site or project. Th e LEED rating system confers points for satisfying specifi c green 

building criteria in categories including sustainability, water effi ciency, energy and atmosphere, materials 

and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Th e number of points a project earns determines the 

level of certifi cation: Certifi ed, Silver, Gold, or Platinum. 

Th e National Museum of the American Indian recently became the fi rst Smithsonian museum awarded 

a LEED Silver certifi cation for an existing building, which recognizes environmental stewardship in 

operations, maintenance, and system retrofi ts. An HVAC renovation project in the director’s corridor at 

the National Museum of Natural History became the fi rst Smithsonian project to achieve a LEED Silver 

certifi cation for commercial interiors. 

20 Report to the Regents, January 2012