===Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution===* Joseph Henry, 1846–1878* Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1878–1887* Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1887–1906* Charles Doolittle Walcott, 1907–1927* Charles Greeley Abbot, 1928–1944* Alexander Wetmore, 1944–1952* Leonard Carmichael, 1953–1964* Sidney Dillon Ripley, 1964–1984* Robert McCormick Adams, Jr., 1984–1994* Ira Michael Heyman, 1994–1999* Lawrence M. Small, 2000–2007* G. Wayne Clough, 2008–2015* David J. Skorton, 2015–present==Controversies====="Enola Gay" display===In 1995, controversy arose over the exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum associated with display of the "Enola Gay", the Superfortress used by the United States to execute the first atomic bombing in World War II.
=== Segretari dello Smithsonian ===# Joseph Henry, 1846–1878# Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1878–1887# Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1887–1906# Charles Doolittle Walcott, 1907–1927# Charles Greeley Abbot, 1928–1944# Alexander Wetmore, 1944–1952# Leonard Carmichael, 1953–1964# Sidney Dillon Ripley, 1964–1984# Robert McCormick Adams, 1984–1994# I. Michael Heyman, 1994–1999# Lawrence M. Small, 2000–2007# Cristián Samper, 2007-2008# G. Wayne Clough, 2008-"Guarda anche I Segretari dello Smithsonian Institution.