Report to the Regents

First Quarter, Fiscal Year 2010

Dr. Jill Biden meets the Graham Road Elementary School Percussion Ensemble at the 17th annual 

Smithsonian Teachers’ Night, organized by the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies 

and hosted by the National Museum of Natural History. Nearly 5,000 teachers attended the event, held 

on October 23, 2009—the largest turnout ever for a Teachers’ Night. 
Visitation Summary

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, the Institution counted 5.48 million visits to its museums in 

Washington, D.C. and New York, plus the National Zoo and Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center—up about 

1 percent from the same period in fiscal year 2009, despite disruptions from a major blizzard that hit the 

Washington, D.C. region toward the end of December, 2009. 

The Smithsonian counted approximately 1 million visits to 45 traveling exhibitions mounted by the 

Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, on view in 74 venues in 27 states, the District of 

Columbia, and Guam. 

Smithsonian websites logged more than 41 million visits—about the same as the figure for the first 

quarter of fiscal year 2009. 

Visits to Smithsonian Museums and Traveling Exhibitions

First Quarter of Fiscal Years 2008, 2009, and 2010 

0

2 0 0 ,0 0 0

4 0 0 ,0 0 0

6 0 0 ,0 0 0

8 0 0 ,0 0 0

1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

1 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0

1 ,4 0 0 ,0 0 0

1 ,6 0 0 ,0 0 0

African Art

Air and Space

American History

American Indian

Heye Center (NY)

Anacostia

Cooper -Hewitt (NY)

Freer/Sackler

Hirshhorn

Natural History

Postal

Renwick

Reynolds Center

Ripley Center

SI Castle

Udvar -Hazy

National Zoo

Traveling (SITES)

F Y2008

F Y2009

F Y2010

Report to the Regents, April 2010
Grand Challenges Highlights 

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe

Research: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 

In the first quarter of 2010, scientists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (a 

partnership of SAO and Harvard University) published 121 peer-reviewed papers, plus 156 non-peerreviewed papers at meetings, conferences, and other venues. 

SAO scientists used a satellite instrument to measure temperatures on a Saturn-sized exoplanet (a planet 

orbiting a star other than our sun) around a nearby star. They found that the daytime temperature 

is about 500 degrees Celsius warmer than the nighttime temperature, which suggests the planet’s 

atmosphere may contain water. 

The sun’s corona (the hot outer region of its 

atmosphere) can produce flares that disrupt 

communications on earth. Conventional 

modeling considers only the surface effects of 

coronal activity, but SAO astronomers showed 

for the first time that the three-dimensional 

structure of the corona can significantly 

influence the observed physical properties of 

these flares. 

SAO astronomers used the Observatory’s 

Submillimeter Array to study the Orion 

Nebula, concluding that about 500 years ago, 

a violent explosion disrupted a massive cluster 

of stars, scattering three of them apart and 

producing bright jets of material. 

Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian 

Center for Astrophysics helped to discover the farthest known object in the cosmos: a star that exploded 

when the universe was a mere 630 million years old, less than one-twentieth of its current age. Light from 

this event had been traveling for about 13 billion years before reaching Earth in April 2009. 

Research: National Air and Space Museum (NASM) 

The NASM Division of Space History sponsored The 

Hubble Legacy, a symposium that brought together 

scientists, engineers, and historians to discuss the 

significance of the Hubble Space Telescope after nearly 20 

years of operations. David DeVorkin led the effort. 

Bruce Campbell is conducting radar mapping of the 

moon. His data are revealing new information on materials 

in the uppermost 10-20 meters of the moon’s near surface. 

X-ray emission of the solar corona

Saturn, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope

Report to the Regents, April 2010
John Grant was the first author of one paper and co-author of two 

others in a special issue of the journal Icarus that highlights results from 

the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

Roger D. Launius of the Division of Space History has published a 

second edition of his book Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars. 

Other Research 

Ed Vicenzi of the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) traveled 

to Cambridge for a collaboration between MCI and the Smithsonian 

Astrophysical Observatory. The NASA-funded project aims to produce 

high-resolution X-ray microanalysis measurements on cometary 

materials returned to Earth by the Stardust mission.

Access 

Research from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics was 

featured in three articles in The New York Times and multiple articles in the leading scientific journals 

Nature and Science. One Center discovery that prompted wide coverage in the popular press was a steamcloaked, “super-earth” exoplanet, news of which appeared in over 30 newspapers worldwide. 

The National Air and Space Museum opened the first stage of Moving Beyond Earth, an exhibition that 

focuses on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station era. It includes a presentation area with 

television studio capability; one of the first programs to utilize this capability featured a Space Shuttle 

crew and was beamed to an audience of students in Bristol, England. 

During the quarter, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Astrophysics Data System (ADS) 

website, which provides search capabilities for and open access to astronomy and astrophysics literature, 

received over 270 million hits.

The National Air and Space Museum held a real-time online conference to mark the 40th anniversary of 

the Apollo mission to the moon. Although tailored to the needs of educators in U.S. secondary schools, 

the conference was available to all, and participants logged in from around the world.

Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet

Research: National Zoological Park (NZP) 

NZP scientists and their collaborators became the first to successfully 

analyze the part of the gene in Asian and African elephants that 

influences the animals’ resistance to viruses, parasites, and bacteria, 

thus taking the first step toward an understanding of the role genetics 

plays in warding off disease among elephants. 

Peter Marra of the NZP Migratory Bird Center and his colleagues 

at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) created a USGS-Smithsonian 

project to investigate the effects of global change on North American 

bird movements, CLIMB (Climate Change and the Inter-seasonal 

Movements of Birds). It promises to be one of most ambitious 

ecological projects ever attempted in this area. 

John Grant had three articles in the 

January Icarus.

NZP scientists work at the cutting edge in 

elephant genetics.

Report to the Regents, April 2010 
Staff from NZP’s Smithsonian Conservation Biology 

Institute attended the Kathmandu Global Tiger 

Workshop in Nepal to coordinate a regional tiger 

conservation effort and conduct a needs assessment for 

training programs in the region. 

Personnel from the NZP Center for Conservation 

Education and Sustainability designed and 

implemented the Peru Andes Biodiversity 

Monitoring and Assessment Program. It is part of a 

collaborative effort of the Smithsonian, Peru LNG, 

the government of Peru, and other stakeholders to 

integrate biodiversity conservation into sustainable 

development plans for the region. 

Brian Gratwicke was lead author of a paper in the 

journal Frontiers in Ecology that presented research 

findings that the $40-million-per-year culinary trade 

of frog legs is a potential carrier of pathogens deadly to amphibians. More than a third of the world’s 

nearly 6,000 amphibian species are threatened with extinction, and disease is one of the main causes. 

Research: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) 

Using a unique dataset of tree biomass, SERC’s 

Geoffrey (Jess) Parker and his colleagues found that 

forests in the mid-Atlantic region have been growing 

much faster in recent years than expected on the 

basis of historical data from the past 225 years. This 

result is highly significant, because forest system 

growth rates can have huge impacts on atmospheric 

cycles, biogeochemical cycles, climate change, and 

biodiversity. The findings appeared in the Proceedings 

of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Patrick Megonigal was appointed to a blue-ribbon 

panel to explore the role of coastal wetlands in 

sequestering greenhouse gases. The panel, which 

includes leaders in science, environmental engineering, public policy, and carbon offset investing, will 

examine the current state of knowledge, assess information gaps, and develop guidance for carbon 

sequestration through coastal wetland restoration projects. 

Dennis Whigham co-edited the book Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, an examination of how wetlands work, 

the animal and plant life they support, and the threats they face, with a focus on the wetlands of North 

America and Europe near the mouths of rivers that flow into estuaries. 

Research: National Museum of Natural History

A recent publication co-authored by NMNH’s Jonathan Coddington reported the discovery of a new 

species of spider in Africa and Madagascar, Nephila komaci. On average, it is the largest known webspinning spider, with females having a body length of about 1.5 inches and a leg span of up to 5 inches. 

Francisco Dallmeier and Steve Monfort (center) are working 

on tiger conservation in Nepal. 

Jess Parker’s research has yielded surprising findings about 

forest system growth rates. 

 Report to the Regents, April 2010
The Weeping Goldsmith: Discoveries in the Secret Land of Myanmar, by 

W. John Kress of the NMNH Department of Botany, is a first-person 

narrative of the author’s trek through Myanmar’s exotic landscapes to 

document its botanical biodiversity. Among his many finds was “the 

weeping goldsmith,” the ginger flower of the book’s title.

Evidence shows that most of the earliest angiosperms (flowering plants) 

were pollinated by insects, but whether this was also the case for early 

gymnosperms (non-flowering plants such as conifers) has been widely 

disputed. In findings published in Science, NMNH paleoentomologist 

Conrad Labandeira and his team present evidence that gymnosperm 

plants shared a pollination relationship with scorpionfly insects 62 

million years before flowering plants appear in fossil records. 

Researchers in the field of biogeography analyze patterns of 

biodiversity, species distribution, and geological history to unravel the 

complex history of life on Earth. However, the field has historically 

been fragmented into divergent approaches, with no unifying research theme or method. In Comparative 

Biogeography: Discovering and Classifying Biogeographical Patterns of a Dynamic Earth, NMNH’s Lynne 

Parenti and Malte Ebach address this discord and outline tools to unify biogeography.

Research: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) 

The results of the Smithsonian’s technical workshop 

and public symposium on tropical extinctions were 

published as a special section of the December 2009 

issue of Conservation Biology, titled New Insights into the 

Tropical Biodiversity Crisis. The section was co-edited 

by STRI scientists William F. Laurance and S. Joseph 

Wright, who also organized the workshop and public 

symposium in cooperation with the Office of the Under 

Secretary for Science and with support from the science 

committee of the Smithsonian National Board. 

A team of researchers including Laurance also published 

an article in Science suggesting a new strategy for saving 

tropical forest species. It calls on wealthy countries 

to adopt a carbon-payment system that explicitly 

incorporates biodiversity values. 

In an article in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, STRI 

scientists and their colleagues at James Cook University 

in Australia drew on dozens of studies from the Amazon, 

Australasia, and Central Africa to argue that linear 

clearing for infrastructure such as roads, canals, and 

power and gas lines could be the greatest threat to tropical rain forests. 

More than 90 experts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change met at STRI facilities in 

Panama City to plan the first global scientific assessment of disaster-risk reduction and climate-change 

adaptation. Their report is to be completed in 2011.

John Kress’s book is part science writing, 

part travel memoir.

Conservation Biology featured a special section edited by two 

STRI scientists.

Report to the Regents, April 2010 
In an article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, STRI’s Carlos Jaramillo and his 

collaborators investigated how tropical biota responded to the cataclysmic meteorite impact on the 

Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. 

Research: Other

Mark Torchin of the Smithsonian Tropical Research 

Institute and Greg Ruiz of the Smithsonian 

Environmental Research Center organized an 

International Workshop on Marine Invasions, held 

in Panama in November 2009. The meeting, which 

included participants from the United States, Panama, 

Belgium, Canada, Mexico, and Australia, explored 

opportunities for collaborative research on invasions 

associated with marine transportation between the 

Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. 

Andrew Johnston of the National Air and Space 

Museum is analyzing tree cover changes in the 

District of Columbia from 1984-2004, using calibrated satellite remote sensing data. Urban forests are 

an important focus of study for understanding human-environment interactions, and the results will 

identify climate patterns and land use practices that affect tree cover. 

Research is underway for an upcoming Anacostia Community Museum exhibition that will explore 

the history and ecology of the Anacostia River, long considered one of the nation’s most troubled urban 

waterways. Research plans include probing community attitudes toward the River.

Access 

The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies held a three-day online educational 

conference, Climate Change, which reached participants in all 50 states and over 80 countries. The 

conference explored changing global climate from the perspectives of disciplines ranging from wildlife 

management to paleontology to art history. Twelve Smithsonian units took part. 

The Center for Education and Museum Studies also launched an online 

simulation to complement the fall 2009 issue of Smithsonian in Your 

Classroom, which focuses on the work of Smithsonian paleontologist Scott 

Wing.

Botanist W. John Kress of the National Museum of Natural History

teamed up with Shirley Sherwood, a member of the Museum’s advisory 

board, to create The Art of Plant Evolution, a beautifully illustrated book 

that juxtaposes the artist’s desire to capture the essence of nature through 

color and composition, and the botanist’s goal of classifying species and 

understanding the relationships among them. 

The traveling exhibition Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and 

Around the World opened at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, 

Missouri. Featuring 44 botanical artworks of endangered plants, the 

exhibition was created by the American Society of Botanical Artists in 

collaboration with the National Museum of Natural History.

Invasive species specialists Greg Ruiz and Mark Torchin

Botanical artwork from Losing 

Paradise?

 Report to the Regents, April 2010
The Nature’s Best Photography exhibition at the 

National Museum of Natural History (November 

12, 2009–May 2, 2010) displays the winners from 

the 2009 Windland Smith Rice International Awards, 

which honor talented amateur and professional 

nature photographers from around the world. 

Valuing World Cultures 

Research 

The National Museum of Natural History sponsored 

a scholarly workshop, Recovering Voices: Partnerships 

in Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages and Indigenous Knowledge. It was 

attended by over 50 linguists, anthropologists, Native language activists, and other cultural experts. 

Scholars from the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage had a busy quarter. 

Olivia Cadaval, Daniel Sheehy, and Cristina DíazCarrera undertook field research in Mexico for a 2010 

Smithsonian Folklife Festival program on that country. 

Marjorie Hunt established a partnership with the 

National Geographic Society to collaborate on a Folklife 

Festival program on endangered languages around the 

world. 

Diana N’Diaye lent her expertise to a scholarly selection 

panel for the International Folk Art Market of Santa Fe, 

New Mexico.

Center staff organized two panels at the American 

Folklore Society’s annual conference in Boise. 

The Center established a partnership with the NGO 

Serengeti Genesis to conduct research on traditional culture in Tanzania, with an eye to creating a 

Folklife Festival program for 2011.

Among the publications from the Freer and Sackler Galleries were articles by Louise Cort, James Ulak, 

and Paul Jett, the last of which resulted from an ongoing collaboration with the Shaanxi Provincial 

Archaeological Institute in Xi’an, China; the proceedings of a symposium, Scientific Research on Historic 

Asian Ceramics; the catalogue Falnama: The Book of Omens by Massumeh Farhad with Serpil Bagci; and 

the first-ever guide book to Galleries collections, Ideals of Beauty.

The catalogue for the Freer and Sackler Galleries exhibition Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of 

Jodhpur received the College Art Association’s Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award for museum scholarship. 

The National Museum of the American Indian conducted a two-day scholarly symposium, Surveying 

Andean Legacy: Archeological Research Along the Inka Road System, a collaborative project with the 

Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center. 

The National Museum of African Art hosted a special symposium for graduate students in art history, 

visual anthropology, and museum studies, Locating Yinka Shonibare MBE, at which attendees shared 

their research on the noted Nigerian artist. 

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John Reiter’s grand prize-winning Nature’s Best 

Photography shot 

Olivia Cadaval (right) in the field 

Report to the Regents, April 2010 
The National Museum of African Art published Karen E. Milbourne’s Artists in Dialogue: António Ole 

and Aimé Mpane. Museum curator Christine Mullen Kreamer and conservator Stephanie Hornbeck also 

contributed to a special issue of the journal African Arts focusing on the ephemeral arts—the former as 

guest co-editor, and the latter as an article author. 

The catalogue Guillermo Kuitca: Everything, featuring the works of a celebrated Latin American 

contemporary artist, was published to accompany an exhibition organized by the Hirshhorn Museum 

and Sculpture Garden, Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, and Miami Art Museum.

The Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical 

Research Institute, National Museum of Natural History, and National Museum of the American 

Indian, is conducting physical analysis of gold collections unearthed in Tropical Research Institute 

excavations of sites that date back to 700 CE. 

Access

The exhibition Falnama: The Book of Omens, on 

view at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (October 

24, 2009–January 24, 2010), showcased brilliantly 

illustrated divination texts created in Safavid Iran 

and Ottoman Turkey in the 16th and 17th centuries. 

The making of the exhibition was the subject of 

Inside the Book of Omens, a video series by BBC 

World News America. 

The Museo del Canal Interoceánico de Panamá, 

a Smithsonian Affiliate in Panama City, Panamá, 

collaborated with the Smithsonian Latino Center, 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and 

other Smithsonian units on the exhibition Panamanian Passages (October 5, 2009–May 31, 2010, in the 

International Gallery of the Ripley Center) and a series of performances and programs attached to it.

Yinka Shonibare MBE, an exhibition at the National Museum of African Art (November 10, 2009–

March 7, 2010) offered a mid-career survey of works by one of the most celebrated African artists of 

his generation. It was the first offering in the Museum’s multi-year series of exhibitions, programs, and 

events, Nigeria: Then, Now and Forever.

The National Museum of 

African Art also was awarded 

two silver e-medals (for Best 

Art Museum Site and Best 

Government Site, respectively) 

by the independent website 

assessment group W3. 

The National Museum of 

American History hosted a 

family Day of the Dead/Dia 

de los Muertos festival that 

brought one of Mexico’s 

biggest holidays to the Mall. The art of Yinka Shonibare 

The entrance to Falnama at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery 

Report to the Regents, April 2010
The Latino Virtual Museum, a project of the 

Smithsonian Latino Center hosted by Second Life, 

presented a virtual Día de Muertos festival to mark the 

Mexican celebration of the ancestors. Website hits to 

the Día de Muertos directory numbered nearly 60,000, 

with almost 2,000 visitor avatars making “personal” 

appearances. 

The Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On

podcast was featured on iTunes and reached #21 on the 

music podcast charts. The program, hosted by Michael 

Asch, son of Folkways Records founder Moses Asch, has been downloaded more than 250,000 times.

Thirteen Smithsonian Folkways albums and songs, representing a variety of nations and genres, were 

named Independent Music Award finalists, and two albums went on to win in February.

The Smithsonian Folkways recording Borders y Bailes, featuring traditional conjunto tejano music of south 

Texas as performed by the group Los Texmaniacs, was nominated for a Grammy award in the Best Tejano 

Album Category. In February 2010, it was named a winner. 

The African Presence in México: From Yanga to the Present 

(November 9, 2009–July 4, 2010), an exhibition at the 

Anacostia Community Museum, examines the history, 

culture, and art of Afro-Mexicans. It is accompanied 

by the companion exhibit Who Are We Now? Roots, 

Resistance, and Recognition, which charts the relationship 

of African Americans to Mexico and Mexicans. 

Understanding the American Experience 

Research 

The American Art Museum and University of California 

Press published What’s It All Mean: William T. Wiley 

in Retrospect, to accompany the exhibition with the 

same title organized by the Museum. The book gives an 

overview of the artist’s 50-year career. 

The catalogue Anne Truitt: Perception and Reflection was 

published by the Hirshhhorn Museum and Sculpture 

Garden to accompany its exhibition of the same name.

In collaboration with the National Museum of African 

American History and Culture, the National Museum 

of the American Indian hosted a scholarly symposium tied to the exhibition IndiVisible: African-Native 

American Lives in the Americas. A catalogue to accompany the exhibition was also released. 

The Smithsonian Latino Center is sponsoring the Latino D.C. History Project, which seeks to document 

and interpret the Latino presence in the Washington, D.C. region since World War II. Led by Professor 

Elaine Peña of George Washington University, the Project is expected to result in an exhibition, public 

programs, and education and outreach activities.

The Latino Center’s virtual Día de Muertos festival

The Anacostia Community Museum explored African and 

African-American ties to Mexico.

The art of Anne Truitt

Report to the Regents, April 2010
The winter 2009 issue of the Archives of American Art Journal

explores “artists and animals” with articles that draw on Archives 

collections, including a contribution by Leonard Marcus on No 

Such Animal, an early children’s work by writer-painter-poet 

Charles Green Shaw.

In partnership with the Freer and Sackler Galleries and

Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, the American 

Art Museum hosted a symposium, A Long and Tumultuous 

Relationship: East-West Interchanges in American Art.

The Anacostia Community Museum is collaborating with the 

American University’s Center for Community Voice to develop 

a video component for a community documentation project 

on the Frederick Douglass Dwellings, the largest war housing 

project for African American citizens in Washington, D.C. 

An article by Cheryl Ganz of the National Postal Museum 

in the journal American Philatelist, The History of American 

Women in Philately, recounts the contributions of U.S. women 

to the study and preservation of postage stamps. 

The Museum Conservation Institute performed expert conservation work on a dress sewn by Civil 

Rights icon Rosa Parks. The dress, which was acquired by the National Museum of African American 

History and Culture in 2007, had been marred by a number of small but disfiguring tears.

Access

William H. Gross, founder of PIMCO and an avid stamp collector, 

has donated $8 million to the National Postal Museum to create a new 

12,000 square-foot gallery that will be named in his honor. The gallery, 

which will give the Museum public space at the street level, is expected 

to open in 2012. 

In conjunction with its Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009

exhibition (October 23, 2009–August 22, 2010), the National Portrait 

Gallery announced the Competition winners. Grand-prize winner Dave 

Woody will be commissioned to do a portrait of a prominent living 

American for the Gallery’s collection. The Gallery also unveiled the 

exhibition Portraiture Now: Communities (November 6, 2009–July 5, 

2010).

The National Portrait Gallery joined iTunes U, a part of the iTunes 

Store featuring free lectures, lessons, and audiobooks, to provide a 

distribution channel for the Gallery’s recorded lectures, curator talks, 

artist interviews, exhibition tours, and other audio resources. Since 

joining iTunes U, podcast downloads have jumped from about 14,000 per month to over 130,000. 

The American Art Museum hosted the exhibition What’s It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect

(October 2, 2009–January 24, 2010), featuring works from the 1960s to the present, some rarely 

screened or on public display for the first time. A Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture featuring William 

Wiley on September 30, 2009 drew a standing room crowd. 

A handwritten manuscript page from 

No Such Animal 

The Portrait Competition was a 

highlight at the Portrait Gallery.

10 Report to the Regents, April 2010
Brian Jungen: Strange Comfort

(October 16, 2009–August 8, 2010), 

an exhibition at the National Museum 

of the American Indian, offers a 

major survey of the work of Brian 

Jungen (Dunne-za First Nations/

Swiss-Canadian), who transforms 

familiar elements into exquisite art 

that comments upon themes such as 

globalization and pop culture.

The George Gustav Heye Center of the National Museum of the American 

Indian in New York is hosting the exhibition A Song for the Horse Nation

(November 11, 2009–July 7, 2011), a treasure-trove of historical objects 

that illustrate how horses shaped American Indian life, particularly on the 

Great Plains. 

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden presented the exhibition 

Anne Truitt: Perception and Reflection (October 8, 2009–January 3, 2010), a 

retrospective of a significant but under-appreciated Washington, D.C. artist. It enjoyed national press and 

critical attention, and was chosen as one of the year’s best by Washington Post art critic Blake Gopnik.

The National Museum of African American History 

and Culture and the National Museum of the 

American Indian collaborated on the exhibition

IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the 

Americas (November 13, 2009–May 31, 2010, at the 

American Indian Museum), which focuses on the 

history and lives of people of dual African American and 

Native American ancestry.

The National Museum of American History opened 

several new exhibitions: 

Holidays on Display (November 12, 2009–September 

30, 2010) looks at the the heyday of holiday displays 

and parades in U.S. cities, from the 1920s through 

the 1960s. 

Hotspots of Invention (opened November 6, 2009), 

a showcase exhibit from the Lemelson Center for 

the Study of Invention and Innovation, examines 

how war-era labs at the Massachusetts Institute 

of Technology helped transform Cambridge, 

Massachusetts into a center of innovation.

Indian Ledger Drawings (November 13, 2009–February 5, 2010), in the Albert H. Small Documents 

Gallery, explored how drawings made by American Indians in captivity preserved their heritage.

In addition, the American History Museum’s Gunboat Philadelphia exhibition has been extensively 

renovated and updated. 

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The art of Brian Jungen

Indivisible focuses on communities of mixed American Indian 

and African American heritage.

Report to the Regents, April 2010 11
The National Postal Museum expanded its online offerings for 

teachers with two new sets of lesson plans, Moving the Mail 

West (for middle- and high-school classes studying the history 

of the American West) and Design-It (which integrates art and 

social studies standards for upper elementary grades in a lesson 

package about stamp designing). 

The Postal Museum also offered several new online exhibits: 

The Museum collaborated with the National Gallery of 

Art to create a special holiday online exhibition, The Art of 

Christmas Stamps.

The Lost Symbol on U.S. Postage Stamps focuses on stamps 

that feature the iconic Washington, D.C. structures that 

figure in Dan Brown’s recent thriller, The Lost Symbol. 

For Hispanic Heritage Month, the Museum launched a 

Spanish version of its online exhibit Celebrating Hispanic 

Heritage: People, Places, and Events on Stamps.

The exhibition Design USA: Contemporary Innovation (October 

16, 2009–April 4, 2010) at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design 

Museum celebrates the winners of the prestigious National 

Design Awards. According to The New York Times, the 

exhibition’s innovative audio visual tour makes other museum 

tours look like a “horse and buggy.”

Caroline Payson, head of education at Cooper-Hewitt, 

presented at the 2009 U.S. National Design Policy Summit, 

which brought together leaders from professional design associations, design education bodies, 

and Federal government agencies to craft an agenda for U.S. design policy to promote economic 

competitiveness and democratic governance.

The Asian Pacific-American Program presented a panel discussion on Filipino American World War II 

veterans; a South Asian Literary and Theater Arts Festival showcasing South Asian-American writers and 

filmmakers; and a presentation by Resident Scholar Konrad Ng on how new media are affecting media 

representations of Asian Pacific Americans. 

Over 12,000 visitors attended the National Museum of the American Indian’s Deer to Dance Family 

Day, a collaboration with the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies. The program 

included hide-tanning, moccasin-making, beading, leather working, storytelling, and performances of 

song and dance.

The American Art Museum has created Art Signs, a monthly series of gallery talks presented in 

American Sign Language, with voice interpretation for hearing visitors. The Museum also received a 

grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to bring every 6th grade student from Washington 

D.C. public and public charter schools to the Museum. 

The National Museum of the American Indian held training workshops for Native cultural center staff 

in Washington, California, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Maryland, as well as for 

staff from D.C. area schools. It also distributed over 17,000 classroom resources nationwide, including 

teaching posters and guides, pre-visit materials, and e-newsletters.

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The Postal Museum’s online Lost Symbol exhibition 

Postal Museum educational offerings use stamps to 

teach children about history, art, and more. 

12 Report to the Regents, April 2010
Education, Events, and Outreach

Education

The 17th annual Smithsonian Teachers’ Night, organized by the Smithsonian Center for Education 

and Museum Studies and hosted by the National Museum of Natural History on October 23, 2009, 

was the best-attended Teachers’ Night ever, drawing 4,800 educators. Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice 

President Joe Biden and an educator for 29 years, was guest speaker. 

The National Air and Space Museum offers a variety of programs to support the national effort to 

improve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. These include a 

Science in Pre-K program that offers professional development for teachers and classroom and fieldtrip 

experiences for young children; and astronomy programming for D.C. 5th-grade students that can now 

include observing the sky with a professional telescope at the Museum’s new public observatory. 

The Museum Conservation Institute and the U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Heritage Center 

organized a three-day workshop, Preventing Illicit Trafficking, Protecting Cultural Heritage, for U.S. 

Department of Homeland Security agents tasked with preventing the illicit trade of art and antiquities. 

The National Museum of American History hosted the 5th Annual 

Washington, D.C. Public School GeoPlunge Tournament, a game 

that tests students’ knowledge of geography. Fifth- and sixth-grade 

students from 23 schools competed.

Events

Nearly 10,000 people visited Cooper-Hewitt, National Design 

Museum during its fourth annual National Design Week. The 

highlight was the tenth annual National Design Awards Gala on 

October 22, 2009, which celebrated the 2009 Award honorees. 

Coverage appeared in a variety of design, architecture, and generalinterest publications with a readership of over 277 million. 

The Hirshhorn Museum held another of its highly successful After 

Hours programs for young professionals, selling 2,200 tickets in 

advance for the evening of music, fun, and art. Its popularity has 

inspired other Smithsonian units to plan similar events.

National and International Outreach

Smithsonian Affiliations offers museums, cultural institutions, and educational organizations access to 

the Institution’s collections and resources. As of December 2009, there were 168 Affiliates in 41 states, 

the District of Columbia, Panama, and Puerto Rico. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2010: 

The Smithsonian welcomed two new Affiliates: The Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, 

Texas; and The Putnam Museum of History and Natural Science in Davenport, Iowa.

Smithsonian units loaned 267 artifacts to Affiliate organizations; there are currently 1,132 

Smithsonian objects on view at Affiliate organizations. 

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After Hours at the Hirshhorn 

Report to the Regents, April 2010 13
The Durham Museum, an Affiliate in 

Omaha, Nebraska, hosted a Smithsonian 

Teacher’s Night for the fifth consecutive year. 

Affiliations’ YouTube channel, 

SmithsonianNeighbor, featured It’s Your Story, 

from the National Museum of American 

Jewish History in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 

it attracted 208,000 online viewers in three 

months. 

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling 

Exhibition Service (SITES) continued to sustain 

a high level of outreach activity: 

SITES revised its Museum on Main 

Street operating plan to facilitate direct collaboration with state humanities councils, expanding 

the Smithsonian’s reach into rural America. Exhibits in the series have been displayed in 844 

communities in 43 states and one U.S. territory. 

The buzz surrounding the upcoming 75th birthday anniversary of “The 

King” in January 2010 drew extensive media coverage to the new 

SITES exhibition Elvis at 21. This included coverage on Entertainment 

Tonight, in Vanity Fair, on CBS Sunday Morning, and in other media. 

SITES installed the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage 

exhibition The Working White House: 200 Years of Tradition and 

Memories at the White House Visitor Center on December 15, 2009, 

in time for the peak holiday tourist season. 

The National Science Resources Center (NSRC) remained active in 

promoting reform in the science curriculum across the nation’s schools and 

beyond: 

NSRC was invited by the Gates Foundation to participate in 

Understanding the STEM Competitive Priority: A Resource 

Conference for State Teams, held in Baltimore. The conference, convened by industry partners 

interested in strengthening science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in 

the United States, drew representatives from 22 states.

NSRC co-hosted the Building Awareness of Science Education Symposium for 125 Indiana leaders, 

to build support for a statewide science education strategy. 

The NSRC’s preliminary needs assessment for K-16 science education reform in Alaska has catalyzed 

an initiative to transform science education in the state. First steps in 2010 will include a summit to 

engage government officials and representatives from other interested organizations. 

The NSRC hosted a meeting of its International Coalition, a network of education stakeholders that 

seeks to disseminate best practices, explore innovative strategies, promote collaboration across sectors 

of the economy, and develop strategic alliances.

On November 4, 2009, in a ceremony carried on Korean television and covered by the Korean Times and 

other Korean national media, Freer and Sackler Galleries Director Julian Raby signed an agreement with 

the National Museum of Korea in Seoul to collaborate on projects promoting Korean art and culture. 

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Smithsonian Teachers’ Night goes to Nebraska 

Elvis at 21

14 Report to the Regents, April 2010
The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute of the National Zoo hosted an international stakeholder 

workshop, The Role of Zoos in the Conservation of Wild Asian Elephants, at its facility in Front Royal, 

Virginia. 

In November, four Smithsonian scholars 

presented Native American Plains heritage to 

over a thousand Natrona County elementary 

school students as part of a Smithsonian 

Associates’ Scholars in the Schools program in 

Casper, Wyoming.

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

researcher James Deutsch completed a lecture 

and consultancy tour in the Czech Republic, 

which included working with curators at the 

National Technical Museum in Prague on 

collections and exhibition plans. 

Collections

On December 23, 2009, the National Museum of African American History and Culture received an 

extraordinary gift from noted historian and collector Dr. Charles Blockson, consisting of artifacts and 

archival collections from the life of abolitionist Harriett Tubman. It includes photographs, a lithograph 

portrait, speaking notes, correspondence, and a shawl given to Tubman by Britain’s Queen Victoria. 

The National Portrait Gallery made two significant additions to its collections: 

A daguerreotype of the Native American leader Blacksnake, circa1850. Daguerreotype portraits of 

identified, biographically significant Native Americans are exceedingly rare.

An engraving of Christopher Columbus by André Thevet, circa 1584, which lays claim to being the 

most authentic image of Columbus in existence, and which, as the first portrait of Columbus in the 

Gallery’s collection, fills a critical gap.

The National Museum of American History

transferred ownership of a 1938 PEPCO Fireless 

locomotive to the B&O Railroad Museum in 

Baltimore, Maryland, which unveiled it at a 

celebration of the Museum’s 10th Anniversary as a 

Smithsonian Affiliate in October, 2009. 

The Smithsonian Institution Archives and 

National Museum of Natural History Department 

of Botany received a competitive grant of nearly 

$500,000 from the Council on Library and 

Information Resources (CLIR) to support a 

documentation project, Exposing Biodiversity 

Fieldbooks and Original Expedition Journals. 

The three-year project will describe, digitize, and make web-accessible both field notebooks held in the 

Archives and expedition specimens held in the Natural History Museum.

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James Deutsch (second from left) with Czech colleagues 

The PEPCO locomotive got a a new home.

Report to the Regents, April 2010 15
The Archives of American Art received a $250,000 matching grant from the Save America’s Treasures 

program to digitially reformat 4,000 reels, cassettes, and mini-disks of interviews conducted for the 

Archives’ Oral History Program, previously at risk due to deterioration and format obsolescence.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden completed a comprehensive collections policy document

covering collecting strategy, acquisition priorities, collections management, and digitization. An 

inventory of the sculpture collection was completed, and a photographer was hired to help achieve the 

goal of digitizing 50 percent of the collection by the end of 2010. 

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries has established an Adopt-A-Book Program that will significantly 

increase the Libraries’ ability to purchase new books, preserve rare books and manuscripts, and digitize its 

collections, which include include first editions of books by Copernicus and Galileo and manuscripts by 

Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.

A state-of-the-art book scanner installed in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries’ Dibner Library of 

the History of Science and Technology will help to share the Libraries’ collections of rare books with the 

world. It will allow for pages to be reproduced and sent to any corner of the world digitally within 30 

minutes, while preserving the condition of the rare books. 

Organizational Excellence

Leadership Milestones

Dennis Kelly was named Director of the National Zoological Park, and assumed 

this position in February 2010. Since 2003, Kelly had served as president and CEO 

of Zoo Atlanta, where he presided over enhancements of the scientific and animal 

welfare programs and the visitor experience; rebuilt marketing, government relations, 

and fundraising capabilities; and raised more than $40 million.

Bill Moggridge was appointed Director of the CooperHewitt, National Design Museum, effective March 2010. 

An entrepreneur, innovator, and leader in the design world, 

Moggridge designed the first laptop computer in 1980 and was co-founder of IDEO, 

a renowned design firm. Before coming to the Smithsonian, he was a consulting 

associate professor in the design program at Stanford University.

Major Construction, Renovation, and Facilities Projects

National Museum of African American History and Culture

$500 million total estimated project cost

The architectural team of Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup is working with Smithsonian staff on the 

second phase of an environmental impact statement (EIS) and on concept design alternatives. Public 

outreach on the Museum’s design has included an EIS public scoping meeting in December 2009 

and monthly meetings with historic resources consulting parties. The architectural team briefed the 

Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission on the proposed design, and 

is engaged with the Commissions’ staffs on developing concept alternatives. Construction procurement 

strategies are being considered, with the goal of opening the Museum in late 2015. Total project costs are 

$250 million in Federal funds and $250 million in Trust funds. 

16 Report to the Regents, April 2010
Arts and Industries Building (AIB)

$64 million estimated cost for shell only

The development of construction documents 

is on schedule for roof reconstruction, window 

replacement, and structural upgrades; construction 

on these improvements will begin in fall 2010. 

Work on the building core is in the scope 

development phase. Exterior masonry repair/

cleaning and selective interior demolition and 

hazmat removal (funded by the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act) will be completed this 

spring. Program possibilities appropriate for the building continue to be explored. A strategy that will 

result in a public opening in fiscal year 2015 has been developed, and consensus is being sought on an 

allocation of resources within the Facilities Capital Plan to support the revitalization effort 

National Zoological Park, Asia Trail II: Elephant Trails

$52.4 million estimated total project and program cost

The second phase of the Asia Trail project will renovate the elephant house and enlarge yard space at a 

projected cost of $52.4 million—$37.6 million Federal (received in fiscal years 2006–2010) and $14.8 

million Trust. Construction began in March 2008 and is scheduled for completion in April 2011. The 

elephant barn and outdoor habitat are substantially complete, and the elephants moved into their new 

holding area late this spring. Renovation of the “elephant community center” will commence in late 

spring, after the elephants acclimate to their barn and a decision is made on whether to bring in a new 

contractor to complete the work, given the less than satisfactory performance of the current contractor.

National Zoological Park, Seal / Sea Lion Exhibit

$40.0 million total estimated project cost

The Zoo’s seal /sea lion exhibit requires major revitalization to meet Department of Agriculture and 

Association of Zoos and Aquariums standards for animal care. Further, the pathway through the exhibit 

area is difficult for strollers and people with disabilities, and needs renovations to improve accessibility. 

The project will also include an upgrade of underground utilities. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and 

the National Capital Planning Commission approved the final design in 2009; a construction contract 

was awarded in September 2009; and demolition and site preparation work is now underway. The noncapital, interpretive component of the project will be funded with $1 million in Trust funds. The Federal 

capital component is approximately $39 million, with multi-year funding in fiscal years 2009–2011.

National Zoological Park, General Services Building

$28.4 million total estimated project cost

Design continues for structural repairs, fire-protection improvements, and safety upgrades at the Zoo’s 

General Services Building, which houses vital functions that must remain operational throughout 

construction. The phased project will entail permanent relocation of the Institution’s vehicle maintenance 

branch to Suitland and temporary relocation of other functions to swing space. The construction 

authorization request for the new vehicle maintenance facility in Suitland was approved by the House 

and is currently under review by the Senate. A contract for construction of this facility was awarded 

Report to the Regents, April 2010 17
in January 2010 with fiscal year 2010 funds. Design for General Services Building upgrades will be 

complete by April 2010, and structural renovation is expected to begin in 2012. Federal funding has been 

requested for fiscal years 2012–2014.

National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center

Revitalization of west wing public space, package III: $60 million 

total project cost

The focus of the third phase of renovation is renewal and 

modernization of three public space floors on the west wing of the 

Museum. Data gathering and field surveys on existing conditions 

have been completed, and the schematic design phase is expected 

to be completed by summer 2010. The Federal appropriation for 

design ($6 million) was received in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. 

Additional Federal funding ($54 million) has been requested for 

fiscal years 2011–2013.

Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture

$19.5 million total estimated project cost

By agreement with the National Capital Planning Commission, the Smithsonian will complete the 

renovation of the Reynolds Center with the reconstruction of the F Street stairs and the addition of 

landscaping and security. Fiscal year 2016 estimates for the associated costs are $9.5 million in Federal 

funds and $10.0 million in Trust funds.

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

$53.5 million total estimated project cost

A contract for renovation of the Fox-Miller townhouses was awarded in January 2010, with construction 

beginning in February 2010. Design for the Carnegie Mansion renovation is scheduled for completion in 

March 2010, with a construction contract expected to be awarded in September 2010 and construction 

expected to begin in June 2011. Total project costs include $21 million in Federal funds and $32.5 

million in private funding. Federal funds included pre-fiscal year 2009 awards of $2.9 million for design 

and collections storage, $1.7 million in fiscal year 2009 funds for the Fox-Miller work, and the balance 

for Mansion construction in fiscal years 2011–2013. Of the required private funds, over $28.5 million 

(nearly 90 percent) has been identified in gifts and pledges.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Mathias Replacement Laboratory Project

$44.5 million total estimated project cost

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center is eliminating deteriorating trailers (which currently 

house 25 percent of lab space and 65 percent of office space); renovating and reconfiguring the existing 

Mathias Lab; and creating replacement laboratories to meet national standards. The 85,000 square-foot 

project will employ sustainable technologies and building materials that will yield substantial reductions 

in energy and maintenance costs. Schematic design was completed in September 2009, with final design 

completion scheduled for mid-2010. Construction is scheduled to commence in early 2011 and to be 

completed in 2013.

18 Report to the Regents, April 2010
National Air and Space Museum—Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Phase II

$80.9 million total project cost

Phase II of the Udvar-Hazy Center is under construction. It will add 237,000 square feet of collections 

care space to the current facility, including a restoration hangar, storage and processing space, a 

conservation laboratory, and archives. Construction should be complete in mid-2011, with fit-out of 

the storage, processing, and archives spaces subject to the receipt of Federal funding. Total project costs 

include $67.8 million in Trust funds and $13.1 million in Federal funds.

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

$42.6 million total estimated project cost

In July 2008, the Smithsonian awarded a $22.6 million construction contract for renovations to Pod 3 in 

Suitland. The renovated Pod 3, on schedule for completion in March 2010, will provide a consolidated 

site for frozen, refrigerated, gas-preserved, and dry collections, allowing the Smithsonian to vacate leased 

properties and free up congested space in several museums. With 92 percent of construction completed 

in December 2009, more than $15 million of shelving/racking, collections and meteorite cases, and 

freezers are being installed. Transfers of collections are expected to be completed within two years.

Permanent Physical Security Barriers

$55 million total project cost

Construction of security barriers at the National Air and Space Museum is complete. The first phase of 

barrier construction at the National Museum of Natural History has been finished, and a contract for the 

final phase will be awarded in fiscal year 2010. Barriers are now in place on three sides of the National 

Museum of American History, and the final side will be completed by early summer 2010. Construction 

of security barriers for the Castle and Quadrangle is scheduled to start in fiscal year 2014. Design and 

construction of off-Mall barriers will follow in order of priority. 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa Laboratory Facilities

$19.1 million total estimated project cost

With the acquisition of 172.5 acres in Gamboa from the Republic of Panama in 2007, the Smithsonian 

Tropical Research Institute is proceeding with the replacement of existing facilities that have outgrown 

their space and would need major infrastructure adjustments to support modern terrestrial tropical 

science. A new facility on the Gamboa site, funded with $15.67 million in Federal and $3.46 million 

in Trust funds, will be dedicated to terrestrial science. Programming and design of the laboratory are 

underway, with the first construction procurement actions scheduled for fiscal year 2010.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Projects

$25.0 million total project cost

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed on February 17, 2009, provided $25 million for 

urgent repair and revitalization projects that were not covered by fiscal year 2009 funding. Most involve 

safety/code compliance or sustainability and energy efficiency. By the end of December 2009, all 23 

project contract actions, totaling $21.7 million (more than 87 percent of the total), were under contract, 

with the residual held for contingencies and management. Construction on all projects is scheduled to 

be finished by early fiscal year 2011. In compliance with the Act, the Smithsonian is reporting on jobs 

created and expenditure of funds; the second quarterly report was completed at the end of January 2010.

Report to the Regents, April 2010 19
Sustainability

Around the Smithsonian, 17 green building projects are in progress or planned. In August 2009, the 

Office of Facilities Engineering and Operations published a Sustainable Buildings Implementation Plan 

that identifies a path to greening 15 percent of the eligible Smithsonian building inventory by 2015. 

The plan focuses on meeting Federal sustainability requirements and earning Leadership in Energy and 

Environmental Design (LEED) certifications, not only for new construction and major renovations, but 

also for existing buildings. 

In October 2009, the Energy Savings Performance Contract project for the National Museum 

of American History and National Museum of Natural History received the General Services 

Administration’s annual Achievement Award for Real Property Innovation for sustainability.

In November 2009, the National Zoological Park converted its 2500-gallon diesel fuel pumps to run 

on a cleaner-burning soy-based bio-diesel blend, which will help reduce hydrocarbon emissions by 20 

percent, as well as lowering carbon monoxide and particulate emissions. 

By year end, work was underway to develop Smithsonian fiscal year 2020 greenhouse gas emission 

reduction targets, in response to an Executive Order (Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy 

and Economic Performance) issued on October 5, 2009.

Information Technology

The first quarter of fiscal year 2010 saw several notable developments at the Office of the Chief 

Information Officer (OCIO): 

OCIO began a redesign of the main Smithsonian website, www.si.edu, which last underwent a 

major redesign eight years ago. The newly designed site will incorporate features that respond more 

effectively to the expectations of today’s virtual visitors; it will be launched in summer 2010. 

OCIO successfully deployed MedarX, a newly-developed, web-based veterinary medical recordkeeping system for animal care at the National Zoo and its Smithsonian Conservation Biology 

Institute. This replaced a 1990s-era system that had been experiencing data and reliability issues.

OCIO completed infrastructure enhancements to accommodate pan-Institutional research access 

by all interested Smithsonian scientists to the High Performance Computing Cluster, located in the 

Smithsonian’s Data Center in Herndon. The Cluster originated at, and was previously only available 

to, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. 

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20 Report to the Regents, April 2010
Prepared by 

Office of Policy and Analysis