Report of 

 the Provost 



J. Dennis O'Connor 



Two vkal processes of discovery converge at the Smithsonian: 

 research and education. To "diffuse" knowledge we must first 

 "increase" it, so the research conducted by our scholars and 

 scientists is a necessary precursor to the educational experiences 

 our visitors enjoy. As Provost, I hold an enviable position at 

 the point of convergence, working with the Institution's great 

 museums and research centers as they help the process of 

 discovery to flourish. And flourish it does. In the Smithsonian's 

 museums, we celebrate and inspire discovery, largely through 

 exhibitions and public programs. Some exhibitions are 

 structured attempts to convey information or meaning 

 through the use of objects, whether historical, scientific, or 

 artistic. Occasionally, we present an impressive object (a work 

 of art, a skeletal structure, a histotical artifact), give visitors 

 information about it, and invite them to take from it what 

 they wish. We hope that their experience extends their 

 personal horizons and stimulates them to explore different 

 ways of thinking, questioning, seeing, and understanding. 

 This year's diverse exhibitions blurred the line between 

 education and research, from the extraordinarily effective 

 new Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and 

 Minerals at the National Museum of Natural History, to the 

 National Postal Museum's fascinating story of invention and 

 innovation, "Undercover: The Evolution of the American 

 Envelope." A varied and vibrant selection of exhibitions from 

 the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American 

 History and Culture appeared throughout the year in the Arts 

 and Industries Building. One of them was jazz bassist Milt 

 Hinton's photographs of "Life on the Road" with Dizzy 

 Gillespie, Hank Jones, Cab Calloway, and other renowned 

 musicians. At the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, "King of the 

 World: A Mughal Manuscript from the Royal Library, 



Windsor Castle" presented both beautiful works of art and the 

 intriguing story of life in seventeenth-century India under the 

 reign of the builder of the Taj Mahal. 



The scientists and scholars who work in the Smithsonian's 

 research organizations engage in discovery of another variety. 

 We can point with great pride to the newly released book on 

 the rise and closure of the Panamanian Isthmus during the 

 last 10 million years, a cooperative effort of the Panama 

 Paleontology Project led by Anthony Coates and his colleagues 

 at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. This already 

 classic work explains the formation of species throughout 

 North and South America better than any other study. 



Two other compelling discoveries show the level at which 

 Smithsonian scientists lead the expansion of knowledge. 

 Researchers from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 

 and their colleagues announced new findings that strengthen 

 the case for black holes. Using satellite measurements of x-ray 

 binary stars, they verified the existence of the "event horizon," 

 the one-way membrane that traps matter and energy inside a 

 black hole. At the National Museum of Natural History, there 

 was new proof that a catastrophic asteroid impact caused the 

 extinction of dinosaurs and other organisms 65 million years 

 ago. A deep-sea core went on display that contains material 

 from the asteroid along with evidence of the extinction of a 

 major group of marine microscopic organisms. 



Discovery has also flourished in our educational programs 

 this year, including the Smithsonian Office of Education's 

 Museum Magnet Schools, its Smithsonian Education website, 

 and the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center's innovative 

 early childhood curriculum. 



One of our priorities in the last year has been to take 

 discovery beyond the Mall in a way that we have not done 



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