What are the goals of the Smithsonian Institution?
What are the goals of the Smithsonian Institution?
The five main fiscal year 2018 strategic goals of the Smithsonian follow: 1) Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research; 2) Expand Digital Technologies; 3) Understand and Impact 21st Century Audiences; 4) Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage, and 5) Enable Cost-Effective and Responsive Administration.
What is the meaning of Smithsonian?
(smɪθˈsəʊnɪən ) noun. a national museum and institution in Washington, DC, founded in 1846 from a bequest by James Smithson, primarily concerned with ethnology, zoology, and astrophysics.
Is the Smithsonian a government agency?
Is The Smithsonian Part of the Government? The Smithsonian is a Trust Instrumentality of the United States. The Smithsonian receives an annual Congressional appropriation that accounts for approximately 2/3 of our total budget.
What is the main Smithsonian museum?
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, with 19 museums and the National Zoological Park (see list below).
What’s the Smithsonian Castle?
The Smithsonian Institution’s first building, the Castle, was designed by architect James Renwick. Until 1881, it housed all aspects of Smithsonian operations, including research, administration, lecture and exhibit halls, library, laboratories, collections storage, and living quarters for the Secretary.
Who funds the Smithsonian?
The Smithsonian’s federal funding for fiscal year 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020–Sept. 30, 2021) is $1 billion. The Institution is 62% federally funded (a combination of the congressional appropriation and federal grants and contracts).
Who founded the Smithsonian Institute?
James Smithson
The Smithsonian Institution was established with funds from James Smithson (1765–1829), a British scientist who left his estate to the United States to found “at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” On August 10, 1846, the U.S. Senate …
Who runs the Smithsonian?
The chief executive officer of the Smithsonian is the Secretary, currently Lonnie G. Bunch III (the 14th Secretary). There have been 13 secretaries since 1846.
Who controls the Smithsonian?
The Institution, established in 1846, is governed by a board of regents which, by law, is composed of the vice president of the United States, the chief justice of the United States, three members of the Senate, three members of the House of Representatives and nine citizen members.
Why is the Smithsonian important?
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo—shaping the future by preserving heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world.
What is the Smithsonian Institution?
The Smithsonian Institution was a collection of museums and research organizations, many of which were located in the city of Washington, DC on Earth.
How is the Smithsonian funded?
The Smithsonian has two sources of funding – federal appropriations and income generated from gifts, revenue-generating activities, and investments (referred to as Smithsonian “trust funds”). The Smithsonian also has two different categories of employees, “federal” and “trust,” as determined by the source of funds used to pay an employee’s salary.
Are all Smithsonian museums free?
Admission is free for all Smithsonian museums and the zoo in Washington, D.C., and the American Indian Museum’s George Gustav Heye Center in New York.
Where is the Smithsonian Institution?
Smithsonian Institution Building. The Smithsonian Institution Building, located near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. behind the National Museum of African Art and the Sackler Gallery , houses the Smithsonian Institution ‘s administrative offices and information center. The building is constructed of Seneca red sandstone in…
