Lonnie G. Bunch III

Founding Director
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Presentation: The Enduring Emancipation: From President Lincoln to President Obama

Historian, author, curator, and educator, Lonnie G. Bunch III is the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.  In this position he is working to set the museum’s mission, coordinate its fundraising and membership campaigns, develop its collections, and establish cultural partnerships.  Prior to his July 2005 appointment as director of NMAAHC, Bunch served as the president of the Chicago Historical Society, one of the nation’s oldest museums of history. Bunch has held several positions at the Smithsonian. As the National Museum of American History’s (NMAH) Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs, he oversaw the curatorial and collections management staff and led the curatorial team that developed the major permanent exhibition American Presidency: A Glorious Burden. A prolific and widely published author, Bunch has written on topics ranging from the black military experience, the American presidency and all black towns in the American West to diversity in museum management and the impact of funding and politics on American museums.   In 2005, Bunch was named one of the 100 most influential museum professionals in the 20th century by the American Association of Museums.