“Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution”
From the Smithsonian Institution:
“Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, announced today he will retire from his position, concluding nearly 38 years of service at the Smithsonian and a career that has shaped the museum field in the United States and beyond.
“It is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement from the Smithsonian,” Bunch said. “I have spent nearly half of my life working at and being part of the Smithsonian family, and what a privilege it has been. There is no place like the Smithsonian—it has been one of the great loves of my life, and I am extraordinarily proud of what we have accomplished together. I leave with pride and sadness, gratitude and joy, and with enormous confidence in the people who will carry this remarkable institution forward.”
Bunch was named Secretary in June 2019, making him the first African American and first historian to serve in the role in the Smithsonian’s history. As Secretary, he led the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, which includes 21 museums, 20 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers and multiple education units and centers.
Bunch notified Smithsonian Chancellor and Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr. In receiving the news, Roberts said, “From his days as a young curator at the National Air and Space and American History Museums through his tenure as the founding director of the African American History and Culture Museum and culminating in his distinguished service for the past seven years in the Smithsonian’s top job, Secretary Bunch has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story. The Regents, and the Smithsonian, have benefited greatly from his wisdom, vision and leadership. We look forward to working with him in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition for his successor.”
During nearly four decades at the Smithsonian, Bunch has helped steward milestones that reflect the breadth of the Institution’s mission, from acquiring the Greensboro Lunch Counter for the National Museum of American History to the Smithsonian’s role in producing the first image of a black hole, and welcoming two new giant pandas to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
“I have had the honor of working with Lonnie Bunch for more than two decades, first when he was the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and ultimately when he became the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian,” said Franklin D. Raines, Smithsonian Board of Regents Chair. “I have seen firsthand how Secretary Bunch’s leadership of our 21 museums and the National Zoo has illuminated the nation’s past, opened pathways to new knowledge and powered creativity and innovation. These efforts will help create a better shared future for all. I thank Secretary Bunch for his extraordinary service to the Smithsonian and wish him continued success as he enters what I am sure will be an active retirement.”
“As Secretary Bunch prepares to conclude his tenure by the end of the calendar year, the Board of Regents will be focused on ensuring stability during this time of transition,” Raines continued. “In due course, the board will announce an Acting Secretary and begin a national search for his successor.”
Before becoming Secretary, Bunch served as the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). When he assumed the role in 2005, the museum had no building, no collection, no funding and a staff of one. Over the next 11 years, he worked alongside colleagues, donors and supporters to realize a century-old dream, guiding the museum from concept to its opening on the National Mall in September 2016. Since opening, the museum has welcomed more than 13 million visitors and become one of the Smithsonian’s most visited destinations. Later this month, it will mark the 10th anniversary of its opening.
Bunch first joined the Smithsonian in 1978, starting at the National Air and Space Museum and then serving in several curatorial and leadership positions at the National Museum of American History through 2000. As associate director for curatorial affairs, he oversaw the museum’s curatorial and collections management staff and helped lead major exhibitions and initiatives exploring American history, culture and identity.
Bunch briefly left the Smithsonian to serve as president of the Chicago Historical Society, where he led a successful capital campaign, guided an institutional reorganization and expanded outreach to new audiences. He returned to the Smithsonian in 2005 to lead the effort to establish NMAAHC, one of the most ambitious projects in the Institution’s history.
Throughout his career, Bunch has been a leading voice for museums and public engagement. As Secretary, he oversaw a period of growth and transformation across the Smithsonian while advancing plans for two future museums authorized by Congress: the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino. Most recently, the Smithsonian Board of Regents designated the historic Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall as the permanent home of the National Museum of the American Latino, marking a major milestone in the museum’s development.
He also is spearheading the largest capital campaign of a cultural institution, the Smithsonian Campaign for Our Shared Future, surpassing the goal of raising $2.5 billion, and securing some of the largest donations in the Institution’s history.
A widely published historian and author, Bunch has written on subjects ranging from the African American experience and the American presidency to museum leadership and public history. His most recent book, A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump, chronicles the creation of the museum and the challenges involved in bringing it to life.
His contributions have been recognized with numerous national and international honors, including the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, the Dan David Prize, France’s Legion of Honor, the Freedom Medal from the Roosevelt Institute, lifetime achievement awards from the American Alliance of Museums and the African American Association of Museums and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has also received over 25 honorary doctorate degrees from various universities.
“It is time for my next chapter, a chapter that will allow me to continue to protect the integrity of the Smithsonian and to champion the importance of a history that illuminates and celebrates the complex story of our nation,” Bunch said. “The Smithsonian has been a reservoir of science, history, art and culture that freely allows the public to find knowledge, understanding, clarity, education, hope and a bit of joy. I will always carry the Smithsonian within me.”
Additional details regarding the leadership transition will be announced at a later date.
Career Narrative
Lonnie G. Bunch III has spent nearly four decades at the Smithsonian, driven by a belief in the power of history to help Americans better understand their country and one another. He began as a young historian inspired by his grandfather and parents who taught him the
power of education. Over the years, he became a curator and national museum leader, bringing American history to life for the public. He ultimately became the Smithsonian’s 14th Secretary and the first African American to hold the role.
No achievement better captures Secretary Bunch’s career than the National Museum of African American History and Culture. When he became its founding director in 2005, the museum had one staff member and little more than an idea that generations had fought to make real. Secretary Bunch helped turn that century-old dream into a museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that has welcomed millions of visitors and built a collection of tens of thousands of objects. Its success reflects the belief that has guided his work throughout his career. Loving this country means understanding its history in full, even when that history is difficult.
Becoming Secretary gave Bunch the opportunity to carry that work across the Smithsonian. He helped move two new national museums toward reality and launched the largest fundraising campaign in the Institution’s history. He expanded efforts to bring Smithsonian resources into classrooms and communities across the country. He also guided the Institution through a pandemic and a period of significant political and social change, while working to preserve the public trust at the heart of the Smithsonian’s mission.
Secretary Bunch’s work has earned recognition around the world, including the Freedom Medal from the Roosevelt Institute, W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, and France’s Legion of Honor. But his career is perhaps best understood through the institution he leaves behind and the people he reached through it.
After spending nearly half his life as part of the Smithsonian family, he leaves confident that a new generation will carry that work forward, guided by the same idea that shaped his own career: to love this country is to understand and share its history in full.”