Secretary of The Smithsonian Institution
On January 1, 2008, the Smithsonian named a search committee for the position of Secretary. Clough's primary competition for the position was Acting Secretary Cristián Samper, who had replaced Secretary Lawrence M. Small after Small's resignation in 2007. The Smithsonian's board of regents, whose duties include electing the Smithsonian's secretary, took at least two votes in the Lawyers' Lounge at the U.S. Supreme Court to arrive at their decision.
Clough was elected 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; Clough was notified via a phone call with regents chairman Roger W. Sant on the afternoon of March 14, 2008, and the decision was announced publicly at a press conference held at the Smithsonian Castle on March 15, 2008. Clough assumed office on July 1, 2008 and was officially installed in an academic ceremony on January 26, 2009. Clough's starting salary as Secretary was $490,000, a pay cut from his final compensation package at Georgia Tech ($551,186) and significantly lower than his predecessor, Lawrence Small's annual salary of $900,000.
Since he assumed office, Clough has made plans to digitize the Museum's collections, and offer more intensive K-12 educational programming. In November 2008, the Smithsonian had its first-ever board meeting that was open to the public. Clough has made efforts to improve the Smithsonian's facilities and long-term planning, as well as plans to reorganize and cut back on staff and budget. In February 2012, Clough's travel expenses were probed by senator Charles E. Grassley, despite increased controls; Clough's travel must be approved by the Smithsonian's chief financial officer as part of the reforms enacted in the wake of alleged abuses by Secretary Small.
On November 30, 2010, Secretary Clough made the decision to remove the David Wojnarowicz video "A Fire in My Belly" from the National Portrait Gallery's "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture" exhibition. The video artwork was perceived by some to be anti-Christian and Clough believed it detracted from the entirety of the exhibition, in which he believed "to be a powerful exhibit about the contributions of gay and lesbian artists" and not about "religious iconography" and "desecration". Clough's decision was widely criticized, but Clough responded that he was protecting the Smithsonian's larger educational mission. After the controversy, the Smithsonian's board of regents appointed an outside panel to examine the decision to remove the work from the exhibition; the panel recommended that art not be removed from shows that have already opened.
Read more about this topic: G. Wayne Clough
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