WASHINGTON (AP) — When Lonnie Bunch started working on the Smithsonian’s first black museum, he had no collection, no building and one employee.
The Smithsonian Institution rewarded the founding director of the wildly popular museum on Tuesday by putting him in charge of all 19 of its museums, making Bunch the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
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Bunch, in an interview with The Associated Press, said his time leading the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture will serve him well. “The Smithsonian is the most amazing place, and sometimes it forgets to act like it. I want it to act like the best institution in the world,” he said.
Bunch replaces David Skorton, who will become president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Bunch will be the first African American to be Smithsonian secretary.
His success with the Smithsonian’s black museum helped his candidacy.
Source: African-American Museum’s Lonnie Bunch Becomes New Smithsonian Institution Leader
