Report of the Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution 



LEONARD CARMICHAEL 



For the Year Ended June 30, 1962 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution : 



Gentlemen : I have the honor to submit a report showing the activi- 

 ties and condition of the Smithsonian Institution and its branches for 

 the fiscal year ended June 30, 1962, 



GENERAL STATEMENT 



The writer of any annual report can well be accused of a want of 

 originality if each year he begins by saying, "The twelve months 

 covered by this report have been characterized by progress and con- 

 structive activity." Lacking in novelty as it is, this statement, how- 

 ever, must be made with strong emphasis about the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution for the period between July 1, 1961, and June 30, 1962, for 

 this year has indeed seen outstanding advances in many areas of the 

 Institution's work. 



There is one aspect of this year's accomplisliment that is of primary 

 importance but that cannot easily be reduced to statistics or presented 

 on a graph. This pertains to the strengthening of the staff. During 

 the months covered by this Report, there have been a number of retire- 

 ments for age and for other reasons from the professional staff of the 

 Institution. A nmnber of these losses were of very distinguished 

 scholars who can never be exactly replaced; but, on the other hand, 

 a number of outstanding new scientists and academic specialists have 

 come to the Institution, some of them already widely known because 

 of their previous scholarly contributions. For many years the pro- 

 fessional or, as it may be termed, the academic staff of the Institution 

 has enjoyed world-wide respect because of the individual distinction 

 of many of its members. The year's new appointments will, I am 

 confident, strengthen this great Smithsonian tradition. It is surely 

 important that Smithsonian experts be leaders in their varied fields 

 if the Institution is to perform in the best possible way the specialized 

 and in some ways unique functions assigned to it by its founder and 

 by the Congress. 



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