Smithsonian Regent Roger Sant and his wife Vicki have made a gift of $10 million to endow the director’s position at the National Museum of Natural History and support the museum’s research and public engagement initiatives. The gift comes through the Sants’ foundation—The Summit Fund of Washington—which is dedicated to improving life in the National Capitol Region. The first recipient of this honor is Cristián Samper, who has been the director of the museum since 2003. His title is now the Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History.
Roger and Vicki Sant
The gift brings the Sants’ total support for the museum to $35 million, which includes a $15 million gift in 2008 for the Sant Ocean Hall and a $10 million gift in 2005 to establish the Sant Chair for Marine Science.
In January, Samper announced that he would step down as director of the museum at the end of July in order to become president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society headquartered in New York City.
Since his arrival in 2003, Samper has reinvigorated the research staff by hiring new curators to replace retiring staff, built major new collections storage facilities and laboratories in Suitland, Md., and raised more than $294 million to establish a research fellowship endowment; enhance the museum’s incomparable collections; and build new long-term exhibitions and educational programs, including the Encyclopedia of Life and the Sant Ocean Hall. – www.si.edu