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[[underlined]] Report of the Search Committee [[/underlined]]

Dr. Bowen, Chairman of the Committee, described the search process, noting that over 300 candidates were presented in a truly nationwide search. The Committee received excellent assistance and advice. In all of the Committee's discussions and voluminous correspondence a recurring theme was an appreciation of Secretary Ripley for his exceptional leadership of the Smithsonian over two decades.

The Committee spent the months of September and October reviewing as carefully as it could the qualifications of all candidates and attempted to identify those candidates who they were most interested in learning more about. The Committee did not define a short list because it recognized that there would be new information, new nominations, and new ideas to which the Committee would want to pay attention.

Scheduling a series of interviews, the Committee saw a number of candidates more than once, and by those interviews (along with the additional inquiries they suggested) the Committee had an opportunity to define as sharp and clear a picture of the individuals as it could. There were, all told, ten meetings of the Search Committee.

The meetings were guided by a sense of criteria and objectives which the Regents had discussed previously and which the Secretary had also identified. The Committee was looking for a scholar of real distinction who would have a grasp of science along with the arts, humanities, and a broad range of academic interests that are within the purview of the Smithsonian. The Committee also wanted someone with demonstrated leadership ability and with vision and a capacity to continue to move the Institution forward strongly. Moreover, the Committee was concerned to find the right human qualities so that the Institution would benefit not only from a sharp intellectual sense of where it ought to go but also from the kind of human grace that is necessary to turn high aspirations into worthwhile activities.

In Executive Session Dr. Brown presented the Committee's recommendation that the Regents elect Robert McCormick Adams (Provost of the University of Chicago) to succeed Mr. Ripley as Secretary. He reviewed Dr. Adams' most outstanding qualifications as noted through interviews with the Committee and gleaned from references. Each member of the Committee present supported these views. After discussion the following motion was moved, seconded, and approved by unanimous show of hands: