imposing admission fees ac this time. In another landmark 

 study, the Regents adopted a statement of policy and 

 guidelines for the advancement of collections-based 

 affiliations with other organizations, with the understanding 

 that the Secretary will develop operational guidelines. 



Secretary Heyman and his associates gave the Regents a 

 thorough briefing on the status of the Institution's complex 

 financing. The Regents approved budgets prepared for fiscal 

 year 1998 federal appropriations and fiscal year 1997 trust 

 funds. They also approved a financial plan for the 

 Smichsonian's 150th anniversary activities. 



Secretary Heyman and his staff also briefed the Regents on 

 the scope of the Smithsonian's program to repair and renovate 

 its buildings, spelling out the rationale for $50 million a year 

 in funding to achieve reliable use of the physical plant. The 

 Regents were given a preview of plans for the National 

 Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall and for 

 the museum's Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, 

 Maryland. The Board also saw plans for the Discovery Center 

 in the National Museum of Natural History and was briefed 

 on the Institution's financing strategies for capital proiects. 



During the year, the Regents approved revised bylaws for 

 the Smithsonian National Board and for the boards of the 

 National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum 

 of American Art, and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design 

 Museum. They also approved the organizing principles for the 

 Board of the National Museum of American History. In 

 addition, the Regents appointed or reappointed the following 

 members to Smithsonian advisory boards: Laura Lee Blanton, 

 Mrs. John M. Bradley, Stephen F. Brauer, Frank A. Daniels 

 Jr., S. Roger Horchow, Mrs. James W. Kinnear, Donald G. 

 Lubin, Elizabeth S. MacMillan, Holly Madigan, Frank N. 

 Magid, Mrs. John F. Mars. Kenneth B. Miller, Norman Y. 

 Mineta, Rupert Murdoch, John N. Nordstrom, Vivian W. 

 Piasecki, Eric de Rothschild, A. R. Tony Sanchez, Alan K. 

 Simpson, Kathy Daubert Smith, and Nancy Brown Wellin to 

 the Smithsonian National Board; Jorge Batista, Donald 

 Bruckmann, Joanne Foster, George Gillespie, August 

 Heckscher, Nancy Marks, Kenneth Miller, Enid Morse, 

 William P. Raynor, Harry Robinson, Arthur Ross, Robert 

 Sarnoff (honorary life member), and Sue Jane Smock to the 

 Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Board of Trustees; 

 Jeannine S. Clark, Stephen Jay Gould, and David Levering 

 Lewis to the Commission of the National Portrait Gallery; 

 Ronald D. Abramson, Barney A. Ebsworth, Patricia Frost, 

 Melvin Lenkin, Linda Lichtenberg Kaplan, Jesus B. Moroles, 

 and Rita Pynoos to the Commission of the National Museum 

 of American Art; John A. Friede, Elliot Lawrence, Brian 

 Leyden, and Frieda Rosenthal to the Commission of the 

 National Museum of African Art; Thomas Eisner and Desiree 

 Glapion Rogers to the Board of the National Museum of 

 Natural History; Vine Deloria Jr., George Gund, Peter 

 Johnson, Lorette Kaufman, Albert Kookesh, Henrietta Mann, 

 Linda Manza-nilla, J. Dennis O'Connor, and Ofelia Zepeda to 

 the Board of Trustees of the National Museum of the 



American Indian; and Marilyn Bergman, Lester L. Colbert Jr., 

 George M. Ferris Jr., George Clemon Freeman Jr., William 

 Heseltine, Robert F. Hemphill Jr., and Elihu Rose to the 

 Board of the National Museum of American History. 



Staff Changes 



J. Dennis O'Connor, former chancellor of the University of 

 Pittsburgh, joined the Smithsonian in January 1996 as the 

 Institution's first Provost. Acting Provost Robert S. 

 Hoffmann, who had ably shaped that office from three 

 assistant secretaries' offices, continued to serve as acting 

 director of the National Air and Space Museum. Tom 

 Freudenheim and James Early, who had served as assistant 

 provosts after being assistant secretaries, took on duties, 

 respectively, as a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International 

 Center for Scholars and a scholar in the Center for Folklife 

 Programs and Cultural Studies. 



Earlier in the fiscal year, the Smithsonian was shocked by 

 the sudden death of Sylvia Williams. She had served with 

 distinction as director of the National Museum of African Art 

 and as an insightful counselor to the Secretary. Mrs. Williams 

 death is a great loss to the Institution. While Provost 

 O'Connor conducted a search for her successor, the museum 

 was ably managed by Acting Director Patricia Fiske. 



Searches for new directors at two major museums were 

 concluded this year. In May, Robert W. Fri was named 

 director of the National Museum of Natural History after a 

 long career at Resources for the Future and several federal 

 agencies. Donald D. Engen, a retired vice-admiral of the 

 Navy, former administrator of the Federal Aviation 

 Administration, and most recently Ramsey Fellow at the 

 National Air and Space Museum, became director of the Air 

 and Space Museum on its 20th anniversary, July I, 1996. 



Assistant Secretary for Finance and Administration Nancy 

 D. Suttenfield left the Institution in the early summer for a 

 similar position at Case Western Reserve University. She was 

 awarded the Secretary's Gold Medal for Exceptional Service in 

 recognition of her service as assistant secretary, acting Under 

 Secretary, and director of the Office of Planning and Budget. 

 Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance Rick Johnson was 

 appointed chief financial officer, and Anna B. Martin, 

 executive assistant to the Under Secretary, was given 

 additional responsibilities as the senior executive officer 

 overseeing the Offices of Human Resources, Equal 

 Employment and Minority Affairs, and the Ombudsman. 



In other actions, Richard H. Rice Jr. was designated senior 

 facilities officer, and Carolyn E. Jones was named director of 

 the Office of Human Resources. Thomas E. Lovejoy, counselor 

 to the Secretary for biodiversity and environmental affairs, 

 accepted additional responsibilities as director of the 

 Smithsonian's new Institute for Conservation Biology 



This year, Daniel H. Goodwin, director of the University 

 Press Division of Smithsonian Institution Press, was named 

 director of the newly formed Smithsonian Press/Smithsonian 



I - 



