Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is a museum complex with most of its facilities in Washington, D.C. It consists of 19 museums and seven research centers, and has 142 million items in its collections.

Administration

The Smithsonian Institution is established as a trust administered by a secretary and board of regents. The nominal head of the Institution is the Chancellor, an office which has always been held by the current Chief Justice of the United States. Serving as a member of the board of regents is one of the very few official legal duties of the Vice President of the United States.

Related Topics:
Trust - Chancellor - Chief Justice of the United States - Vice President of the United States

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Secretaries of the Smithsonian

• Joseph Henry, 1846–1878
• Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1878–1887
• Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1887–1906
• Charles Doolittle Walcott, 1907–1927
• Charles Greeley Abbot, 1928–1944
• Alexander Wetmore, 1944–1952
• Leonard Carmichael, 1953–1964
• Sidney Dillon Ripley, 1964–1984
• Robert McCormick Adams, 1984–1994
• I. Michael Heyman, 1994–1999
• Lawrence M. Small, 2000–

See The Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution.

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