Smithsonian Names New Secretary

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Smithsonian Institution has announced that G. Wayne Clough, currently president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been selected as the cultural complex's new secretary, reports the New York Times. He will assume the position July 1.

Clough succeeds Lawrence M. Small, who stepped down from the post a year ago amid a scandal about his spending. Among the challenges Clough faces at the institution — with its 19 museums, nine research centers, and 6,300 employees — will be addressing a tarnished reputation and contending with a widely reported $2.5 billion budget shortfall.

"There is a tremendous residual good will for the Smithsonian," said Clough at a news conference on Saturday. "I think what we need to do is repair some bridges. We need to communicate, be transparent, reinvigorate the excitement about the Smithsonian that should be here."