DAVID M. RUBENSTEIN ELECTED BOARD CHAIR OF SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

David M. Rubenstein, cofounder of the Carlyle Group—a Washington D.C. based investment firm—has been elected chairman of the Smithsonian Institution board, Peggy McGlone of the Washington Post reports. He will succeed board of regents chairman John McCarter.

Rubenstein, who joined the board in 2009, said, “I love the museums, and I love the learning. It keeps me young.” In January, he donated $10 million to the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s capital campaign. The museum named its central exhibition space the David M. Rubenstein History Galleries in his honor. Rubenstein cochairs the Smithsonian’s joint fundraising campaign, serves as board chair of Duke University, and is a board member at several other institutions, including the University of Chicago, Lincoln Center, and the National Gallery of Art.

The Smithsonian also elected Steve Case, cofounder of AOL, as vice chairman and Risa J. Lavizzo-Mourey, president and chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as the third member of its executive committee. They will start their three-year terms in January.

In addition to the appointments, the institution announced that it has reached its $1.5 billion goal for its first joint fundraising campaign, which kicked off in 2011, one year ahead of schedule. “It’s the largest, most ambitious campaign for a cultural organization in the world,” Smithsonian secretary Wayne Clough, said. “We are proud to work to keep the museums free for all Americans.”