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Dr.

Richard Kurin

Smithsonian Institution
Cultural institution administrator; Cultural anthropologist
Area
Leadership, Policy, and Communications
Specialty
Scientific, Cultural, and Nonprofit Leadership
Elected
2015

Dr. Richard Kurin, Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture. Smithsonian Institution

A cultural anthropologist, Kurin oversees most Smithsonian national museums and has long been an institutional intellectual leader and innovator. As director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, he amplified the voices of and encouraged respect for tens of thousands of cultural exemplars from around the world through the annual Folklife Festival on the National Mall, Folkways Recordings, and other productions. He helped draft a UNESCO treaty on safeguarding cultural heritage and currently guides Smithsonian efforts to save endangered heritage in Syria, Iraq, Mali, Egypt, Haiti and Nepal. He’s authored seven books; the latest The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects is also a Great Course and an edX MOOC.

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