By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 7, 2008

Eduardo Diaz, executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, was appointed yesterday to lead the Smithsonian Latino Center.

Diaz replaces Pilar O'Leary, who resigned in February after an internal investigation showed that she violated ethics policies by trying to steer a contract to a friend and abusing her expense account. O'Leary was appointed director by then-Secretary Lawrence M. Small in 2005.

The Latino Center is not a museum, but a division with a $3 million budget that coordinates programs and exhibits on Latino culture that appear in numerous venues both inside and outside the Smithsonian.

Diaz's appointment is the first of several Smithsonian senior staff positions that G. Wayne Clough -- who took over the sprawling museum and research complex in July -- has to fill. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has had an interim director for almost two years, and the National Museum of African Art loses its director next month. A permanent chief executive for Smithsonian Enterprises, the business division of the institution, is expected to be named soon. Some other units, such as the general counsel and three undersecretary offices, are under acting administrators.

Diaz, 57, who grew up in El Paso and in San Bernadino, Calif., has led the Albuquerque facility, the largest Latino center in the country, since August 2005. The center, which has a $3.5 million annual budget, is part of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. For 10 years, Diaz was the director of San Antonio's Office of Cultural Affairs. He has a law degree from the University of California at Davis and a bachelor's degree in Latin American studies from San Diego State University.

"Eduardo's experience, expertise and leadership skills will be invaluable as he expands the center's influence," Clough said in a statement.

Diaz was one of many officials who agreed with the findings of a 1994 report that criticized the Smithsonian's neglect of Latino culture. "It was a pretty scolding indictment of the institution," he recalled. Since then "I have been interested in the Smithsonian per se and more importantly what the Smithsonian was going to do to reflect the Latino experience."

The center, given the mandate of educating the public about Latino history, peoples and culture, has overseen the development of 300 projects since its founding in 1997.

Diaz favors a national Latino museum in Washington, an effort under study, particularly because he says many forgotten stories have to be told, as well as capturing the experiences of newer populations.

The center has a tremendous educational opportunity, he says, through virtual galleries and teaching materials, as well as exhibitions and programs throughout the country. "There is an incredibly rapid growth in the size and diversity of the Latino population," Diaz says. "The Smithsonian has a big task. . . . We have to get out and see what is happening that reflects our reality."