Feb

Deputy Director will be Interim Director at Air and Space

With Gen. Jack Dailey’s retirement in January, Christopher U. Browne will become Interim Director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM), effective Feb 5.

Christopher U. Browne

Brown currently serves as NASM’s Deputy Director. Prior to joining NASM, he served for 30 years with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, managing Reagan National and Dulles airports during a phase of significant growth and development. In addition to leading a staff of more than 500, Chris was responsible for more than $400 million in aviation revenues, as well as revenues generated on the Dulles Toll Road used to construct the WMATA Metrorail line to Dulles.

Earlier in his career, Chris served as a Naval Flight Officer, flying F-14 Tomcats off the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, making numerous deployments to the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, and Caribbean during seven years of active service. He amassed more than 1,400 flight hours and more than 300 carrier landings. He is a graduate of the U.S. Navy’s “Top Gun” Fighter Weapon School. While flying as a Naval Reservist in 1989, Chris flew the F-14 aircraft currently on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly.