Dr. John E Fleming Award
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G Bunch III
Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III meets with AAAM Immediate Past President, LaNesha DeBardelaben and Executive Director, Dr. Vedet Coleman-Robinson at the Smithsonian Castle
Through a unanimous vote, Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch, III was awarded the 2022 Dr. John Fleming Award. This award, the highest honor presented, recognizes professionals who have contributed outstanding expertise and exceptional dedication to African and African American focused institutions, nationally and internationally, through a career spanning 20 years or more.
Born in Bellville, New Jersey, Bunch began his career in one of AAAM’s pillar museums as the curator of history and program manager for the California African American Museum in Los Angeles from 1983 to 1989. While there, he organized several award-winning exhibitions, including “The Black Olympians, 1904–1950” and “Black Angelenos: The Afro-American in Los Angeles, 1850–1950.” He also produced several historical documentaries for public television. Shortly thereafter, Bunch held several positions at its National Museum of American History from 1989 through 2000. As the museum’s associate director for curatorial affairs for six years (1994–2000), he oversaw the curatorial and collections management staff and led the team that developed a major permanent exhibition on the American presidency. He also led the team that developed “Smithsonian’s America” for the American Festival Japan 1994; this exhibition, which was presented in Japan, explored the history, culture and diversity of the United States.
According to Lonnie G. Bunch III’s biography from the Smithsonian Institution:
Lonnie G. Bunch III is the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian. He assumed his position June 16, 2019. As Secretary, he oversees 21 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers and several education units and centers. Two new museums—the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum—are in development.
Previously, Bunch was the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. When he started as director in July 2005, he had one staff member, no collections, no funding and no site for a museum. Driven by optimism, determination and a commitment to build “a place that would make America better,” Bunch transformed a vision into a bold reality. The museum has welcomed more than 8 million visitors since it opened in September 2016 and has compiled a collection of 40,000 objects that are housed in the first “green building” on the National Mall. In 2019, the creation of the museum became the first Smithsonian effort to be the topic of a Harvard Business Review case study.
Occupying a prominent location next to the Washington Monument, the nearly 400,000-square-foot National Museum of African American History and Culture is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive cultural destination devoted exclusively to exploring, documenting and showcasing the African American story and its impact on American and world history.
Before his appointment as director of the museum, Bunch served as the president of the Chicago Historical Society (2001–2005). There, he led a successful capital campaign to transform the Historical Society in celebration of its 150th anniversary, managed an institutional reorganization, initiated an unprecedented outreach initiative to diverse communities and launched a much-lauded exhibition and program on teenage life titled “Teen Chicago.”
Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III meets with AAAM Immediate Past President, LaNesha DeBardelaben and Executive Director, Dr. Vedet Coleman-Robinson at the Smithsonian Castle
