Smithsonian hires education director

Officials at the Smithsonian Institution have hired Claudine Brown as their first director of education, charged with coordinating programs for K-12 students.

Brown, 60, was appointed to the post Tuesday. She has been the director of arts and culture programs at the Nathan Cummings Foundation in New York since 1995. She has worked at the Smithsonian before. In 1990, she directed planning for the future National Museum of African American History and Culture, slated to open in 2015.

In her new job, Brown will oversee the National Science Resource Center and the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies, as well as 32 education offices at the museums.

-- Associated Press