Wayne Clough
Wayne Clough
President Emeritus, Georgia Institute of Technology; Former Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
Biography

Wayne Clough served as the 10thPresident of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1994 to 2008 — the first alumnus to do so — and as the 12thSecretary of the Smithsonian Institution from 2008 to 2014.

Clough earned his bachelor’s and his master’s degrees from Georgia Tech, and went on to receive his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Clough was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1990 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010. He has received honorary doctorates from 12institutions.

Georgia Tech’s national rankings rose into the top 10 among public universities during Clough’s tenure. The student population increased from 13,000 to 19,000, and funding for external research more than doubled. The Institute embarked upon two successful national fundraising campaigns andClough also oversaw more than a billion dollars in campus construction and improvements.

Clough’s tenure as Secretary of the Smithsonian was marked by a number of firsts includinga national fundraising campaign, a national branding campaign, an institution-wide commitment to sustainability, and laying the framework for the Digital Smithsonian.More than $1 billion in philanthropic gifts were raised,and, he also presided over more than a billion dollars in renovations and new construction.

A native of Georgia, Cloughhas taught at Duke, Stanford and Virginia Tech, where he served as Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Dean of the College of Engineering. He also served as Provost and Vice President of the University of Washington.