WASHINGTON, DC.- The founding Council of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture elected Richard D. Parsons and Linda Johnson Rice as co-chairs at its second meeting. The daylong meeting also included updates on the site survey process and Smithsonian collections, and a tour of the exhibition “Close Up in Black: African American Film Posters,” a traveling exhibit now at the Smithsonian’s International Gallery. Thirteen members of the Council attended the meeting. The members of the 19-person Council, selected in December 2004 by the Smithsonian Board of Regents, include leaders from business, academia and the arts.

The members appointed to the Council are, in alphabetical order:• James Ireland Cash, retired James E. Robison Professor and Senior Associate Dean of the Harvard Business School; • Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express Company; • Ann M. Fudge, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Young & Rubicam Brands; • James A. Johnson, Vice Chairman of Perseus, L.L.C.; • Robert L. Johnson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Black Entertainment Television (BET) and the RLJ Companies; • Quincy Jones, Producer and Multimedia Entrepreneur; • Ann D. Jordan, Consultant for Northpoint Technology; • Michael L. Lomax, President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Negro College Fund; • Homer A. Neal, Director of the University of Michigan-ATLAS Project and the Samuel A. Goudsmit Distinguished University Professor of Physics, University of Michigan; • E. Stanley O’Neal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merrill Lynch & Company; • Samuel J. Palmisano, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of IBM Corporation; • Richard D. Parsons, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Time Warner Inc.; • Franklin D. Raines, retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fannie Mae; • Linda Johnson Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Publishing Company Inc.; • Lawrence M. Small, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; • H. Patrick Swygert, President of Howard University; • Anthony Welters, President and Chief Executive Officer of AmeriChoice; • Wesley S. Williams Jr., President and Co-Chairman of Lockhart Companies Inc.; and • Oprah Winfrey, Chairman of Harpo Inc.