(a) The business of the Institution shall be conducted at the city of Washington by a Board of Regents, named the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, to be composed of the Vice President, the Chief Justice of the United States, three Members of the Senate, three Members of the House of Representatives, and nine other persons, other than Members of Congress, two of whom shall be resident in the city of Washington, and seven of whom shall be inhabitants of some State, but no two of them of the same State.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution may modify the number of members, manner of appointment of members, or tenure of members, of the boards or commissions under the jurisdiction of the Smithsonian Institution, other than—(1) the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution; and
(2) the boards or commissions of the National Gallery of Art, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
(R.S. § 5580; Mar. 12, 1894, ch. 36, 28 Stat. 41; Pub. L. 91–551, § 1(a), Dec. 15, 1970, 84 Stat. 1439; Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, § 101(e) [title III, § 355], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–231, 2681–303.)
Editorial Notes
Codification
R.S. § 5580 derived from acts Aug. 10, 1846, ch. 178, § 3, 9 Stat. 103; Jan. 10, 1865, ch. 11, 13 Stat. 420; Mar. 20, 1871, ch. 1, 17 Stat. 1.
Amendments1998—Pub. L. 105–277 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).
1970—Pub. L. 91–551 authorized three additional persons on the Board of Regents.
1894—Act Mar. 12, 1894, struck out “the governor of the District of Columbia” after “the Chief Justice of the United States,”.