G. Wayne Clough is the 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, leading the world’s largest museum and research complex with 19 museums, nine research centers, the National Zoo and research activities in more than 90 countries.

Clough envisions a new era for the 162-year-old Institution, expanding the Smithsonian’s global relevance and helping our nation shape its future through research, education and scientific discovery on major topics of the day. He has initiated long-range planning for the Institution that will define the Smithsonian’s focus for the future.

Ensuring that the Institution’s vast collection is accessible and available to everyone is also a priority for Clough. He has already put plans in motion to digitize much of the Smithsonian’s 137 million objects in the collection: Each object will be digitally photographed or scanned and accompanied on the Web by curatorial content from Smithsonian experts.

Since Clough began as Secretary in July 2008, he has overseen several major openings at the Smithsonian, including the Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History and the reopening of the National Museum of American History.

Before his appointment to the Smithsonian, Clough served as 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. He served as head of the department of civil engineering and dean of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, and as provost at the University of Washington.

The Georgia Tech campus served as the Olympic Village for the 1996 Centennial Olympics while Clough was president. Research expenditures increased from $212 million to $425 million and student enrollments from 13,000 to 18,000. More than one-and-a-half billion dollars was raised in private gifts, and campus operations were opened in Savannah, Ga., Ireland, Singapore and Shanghai.

Clough completed a building program of more than $1 billion that incorporated sustainable design. Georgia Tech was also ranked among the top 10 public universities by U.S. News and World Report during Clough’s tenure. The publication Diverse Issues in Higher Education cited Georgia Tech as the top producer of African American engineers, and Hispanic Business Magazine named the school among the top institutions for study by Hispanic students.

Clough received nine national awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, including the 2004 OPAL lifetime award for contributions to education. He is one of 14 civil engineers to have been twice awarded civil engineering’s oldest recognition, the Norman Medal, in 1982 and in 1996. He received the George Westinghouse Award from the American Society of Engineering Education in 1986 for outstanding teaching and research. In 1990, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and in 2008 was recognized with the NAE Bueche Award for his efforts in public policy. He was awarded the 2002 National Engineering Award by the American Association of Engineering Societies and in 2004 was named as a Distinguished Alumnus from the College of Engineering at U.C. Berkeley.

Clough currently serves as a member of the National Science Board and as chair of the National Research Council Committee on New Orleans Regional Hurricane Protection Projects. He served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2001-08) and as co-chair of the 2004 National Innovation Initiative and University vice chair of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness; he chaired the Engineer of 2020 Project for the NAE and served as a member of the National Governors Association Innovate America Task Force (2006-07).

Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes appointed Clough chair of the Blue Ribbon Natural Gas Task Force; Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin made him chair of her Clean Water Advisory Panel. He served on the boards of Noro-Moseley Partners, TSYS Corp. and the International Advisory Board of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.

Clough’s 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.

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SI-150A-2008