Media Credit: File Photo by Eric Lee Bunch also served as a museum studies and history professor at GW from 1990 to 2000, the release states. Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, will be this year’s Commencement speaker, officials announced in a release Monday. Bunch will also receive a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree when officials hold an in-person ceremony on the National Mall in the future, the release states. He is the first African American and the first historian to lead the Smithsonian, according to the release. “Secretary Bunch’s contributions to the world, through his leadership of the Smithsonian, dedication to teaching and research and far-reaching influence on our understanding of history and culture are truly remarkable,” University President Thomas LeBlanc said in the release.