10 



Annals of the Smithsonian Institution 1 999 



Committee on Financial Affairs to recommend to the board 

 the appropriate roles and responsibilities of a standing com- 

 mittee on finance. 



The Regents established a National Board for the 

 Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives and an Advisory 

 Council of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. 

 They expanded the Board of Trustees of the Hirshhorn 

 Museum and Sculpture Garden as authorized by the 

 Omnibus Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1999. The 

 Regents were mindful of the diligence of many Smithsonian 

 advisory boards. In recognition of the importance of these 

 contributions, the Regents made the following 

 appointments and reappointments: Siddharth Bhansali, 

 Elizabeth Moynihan, and Michael Sonnenreich to the 

 Visiting Committee of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; 

 Elizabeth Ernst Meyer and Frank Pearl to the Visiting 

 Committee of the Freer Gallery of Art; Elliot Lawrence, 

 Brian S. Leyden, and Frieda Rosenthal to the Commission of 

 the National Museum of African Art; Jorge Batista, William 

 Drenttel, Joanne duPont Foster, Elaine La Roche, Jeffrey T 

 Leeds, Nancy Marks, Kenneth Millet, and Arthur Ross to 

 the Board of Trustees of the Cooper-Hewitt, National 

 Design Museum; Bernadette Berger, Ann Cousins, Ruth 

 Sulzberger Holmberg, Jesus Morales, David M. Silfen, and 

 Carole Slavin to the Commission of the National Museum of 

 American Art; Anne B. Baddour, Eugene A. Cernan, Frank 

 A. Daniels Jr., Stanley Hiller, Thomas G. Pownall, Allen E. 

 Puckett, Richard T Schlosberg III, and Patty Wagstaff to 

 the National Air and Space Museum's Dulles Center 

 National Board; Paul K. Dayton, Henry L. Diamond, 

 Charles McC. Mathias, and William R. Sweeney Jr. to the 

 Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Advisory 

 Board; Jane Beck, Pat Jasper, Barbara Kirshenblatt- 

 Gimblett, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Gilbert Sprauve, Jack 

 Tchen, and Ricardo Trimillos to the Advisory Council of the 

 Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage; Anita DeFrantz, 

 David M. Fields, and Donald Lubin to the National Museum 

 of American History Board; Paula Apsell, Isabella 

 Cunningham, Thomas Eisner, William Ellis, James 

 McClure, Robin Martin, James Patton, Desiree Rogers, and 

 Howard Williams to the National Museum of Natural 

 History Board; Susan Hager, Michael Hayman, Norman 

 Mineta, Beth Stevens, Richard Thornell, and Kathleen 

 Wagner to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center 

 Advisory Board; Richard E. Gray, John B. Henry, and 

 Margery F. Masinter to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries 

 Board; Eloise Cobell, Vine Deloria, Peter Johnson, Loretta 

 Kaufman, Henrietta Mann, and Ofelia Zepeda to the Board 

 of Trustees of the National Museum of the American Indian; 

 Wilson Hulme II, Myron Kaller, Barbara R. Mueller, Betsy 

 Towle, and Irwin Weinberg to the Council of Philatelists of 



the National Postal Museum; Rudy Beserra, Gilberto 

 Cardenas, Jesus Chavarria, Miriam Cruz, Roberto Cruz, Olga 

 Garcia, Sandra Guzman, Gema Hernandez, Abel Lopez, 

 Monica Lozano, Edward James Olmos, H. R. Bert Pena, 

 Ricardo Romo, Esteban E. Torres, Carlos Tortolero, Joseph 

 Wiscovitch, Raul Yzaguirre, Fernando Zazueta, and Teresa 

 Zubizarreta to the Smithsonian National Boatd for Latino 

 Initiatives; and Laura Lee Blanton, L. H. "Hacker" Caldwell, 

 Frank A. Daniels Jr., Fredric C. Hamilton, Norman Y. 

 Mineta, Henry R. Munoz III, Nancy Brown Negley, Mary 

 Ourisman, James Patton, Thomas F Pyle Jr., Eric de 

 Rothschild, A. R. Sanchez, and Jackson Tai to the 

 Smithsonian National Board. 



Staff Milestones 



The Smithsonian suffered a huge loss this year with the 

 death of Donald D. Engen from a tragic accident in his sail 

 plane over Nevada in July. In three short years, Engen be- 

 came a much loved and admired director of the National Air 

 and Space Museum, the capstone to his marvelous career in 

 naval aviation, air safety, and the Federal Aviation Adminis- 

 tration. His most memorable contribution, his passion for 

 and advancement of the Dulles Center, will long be remem- 

 bered. Thankfully, Deputy Director Donald S. Lopez again 

 stepped in as acting director of the museum. 



The Institution proudly welcomed Gary M. Beer to the 

 new position of chief executive officer of Smithsonian Busi- 

 ness Ventures. Beer brings vast experience to the challenges 

 of ensuring that this new organization succeeds to the benefit 

 of the entire Institution. Edward Knapp was recruited as the 

 new comptroller, George Van Dyke was tapped to be chief of 

 information technology operations, and Peter Cannell was ap- 

 pointed director of the Smithsonian Institution Press. 



The Secretary's Gold Medal for Exceptional Service was 

 presented to Irwin Shapiro for his outstanding work at the 

 Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and to Derrick Ross 

 for his outstanding wotk at the Office of Physical Plant. Both 

 received their medals from the Secretary on June 15, 1999, at 

 the Smithsonian's first Day of Excellence celebration. 



The ongoing contributions of countless additional em- 

 ployees and volunteers deserve recognition as well. Public 

 servants — from custodians to curators, astrophysicists to ac- 

 countants, and engineers to public information officers — 

 are the real backbone of the Smithsonian. As the Institution 

 prepares for the new millennium, all Smithsonian supporters 

 have reason to be grateful to this cadre who will chart its 

 course and determine its destiny. 



