14th Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III
Credit Noah Willman Photography.
Lonnie G. Bunch III was installed as the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Friday, Nov. 1, 2019 at the Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall. The Hon. John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States and Chancellor of the Smithsonian, presided over the ceremony and presented Bunch with a ceremonial brass key that once opened a massive oak door of the Smithsonian Castle.
Bunch was the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in September 2016. Bunch’s tenure is unprecedented for the Smithsonian: He is the first African American to lead the Smithsonian, and the first historian elected Secretary. In addition, he is the first museum director to ascend to Secretary in 74 years.
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Lonnie G. Bunch III
