John and Adrienne Mars Director
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum 

Christopher Browne is the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. He joined the Museum in 2017 as Deputy Director and promoted to the Director position in May 2022.  Browne accounts for the activities of six directorates comprising a staff of over 320 employees and an annual operations budget of $49m.  Included in his area of responsibility is the exhibit development and care for over 60,000 significant aviation and aerospace artifacts stored or on display at the National Mall Building, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, and Paul E. Garber facility in Suitland Maryland.  Browne accounts for the Museum’s fundraising efforts and operational activities supporting the reconstruction of the National Mall Building.  

In 1980 Browne joined the US Navy and served as a Naval Flight Officer, flying F14 Tomcats off the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, making numerous deployments to the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, and Caribbean during seven years of active service.  Browne amassed over 1400 flight hours and more than 300 carrier landings and is a graduate of the US Navy's "Top Gun" Fighter Weapon School.  After continuing military service in the Reserves, Browne retired from the U.S. Navy at the rank of Commander in 2000

In 1988 he joined the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Authority) where he served in Operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) until being selected as the Airport Manager in 1998. He managed DCA for seven years; a period that included significant construction and the events of Y2K and 9-11. In 2005 Browne was selected as the Airport Manager at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), where he led the airport through a pronounced phase of significant growth and development. In addition to managing a staff of over 500 employees, Browne was responsible for an aviation revenue stream exceeding $400M, as well as the revenues generated on the Dulles Toll Road used to construct the WMATA Metro Rail line to IAD. 

Browne holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Dartmouth College and a Master of Science in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and serves on the Space Foundation and Aero Club of Washington Boards.  He is married with two grown children, and resides in Fairfax, Virginia.