G. Wayne Clough

secretary, Smithsonian Institution

Wayne Clough is the 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Since he began as Secretary in July 2008, he has overseen several major openings at the Smithsonian, including the reopening of the National Museum of American History, the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins and Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History. Before his appointment to the Smithsonian, Clough was president of the Georgia Institute of Technology for 14 years. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Georgia Tech in 1964 and 1965 and a doctorate in 1969 in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Clough has been a professor at Duke University, Stanford University and Virginia Tech. His interests include science, technology and higher-education policy, sustainability, international programs, museums and history. His civil engineering specialty is in geotechnical and earthquake engineering. He has published more than 130 papers and reports and six book chapters and has co-written numerous committee reports. Clough was born in Douglas, Ga., Sept. 24, 1941.