Elizabeth Duggal

Associate Director for External Affairs and Public Programs

Mailing Address:
Office of the Associate Director for
External Affairs and Public Programs
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
MRC 106, P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012

Biography:

As an Associate Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Duggal oversees all public programs and outreach for the Museum—an internationally renowned institution that serves as the steward of the world’s most extensive natural history collections. Duggal manages the planning and development of museum exhibitions, educational programs, fundraising, national outreach, public relations, marketing, visitor services initiatives, special events and web projects. She leads a staff of 80, which as a department, is responsible for presenting the work of the museum’s scientists and curators to the public.

Duggal formerly served as the Associate Director for Museum Resources at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and was responsible for the museum’s overall planning, management and coordination of financial and human resources for both the federal and private sector. Duggal directed the systems necessary for effective museum-wide operations, including the annual budget of $40 million, in which over $8-10 million had to be raised from the private sector. She provided oversight and direction to the George Gustav Heye Board of Directors in New York City and the National Council in Washington, D.C. She led a department that included museum-wide budget planning, allocation and oversight, human resources, administrative services, development, special events, public relations, marketing, product development, advertising, membership, and direct-mail activities. 

Previously, Duggal served as development executive for the British Museum Development Trust in London, where she headed the museum’s International Friends and Patron’s membership program.  She also chaired the first royal charity gala in the museum’s 250-year history and headed a series of related events in the United States with the royal family.  Prior to joining the staff of the British Museum, she was the founding Chair of the American Friends of the British Museum.

With a background in banking and finance, Duggal has worked as a management consultant, and held positions in several financial institutions, including The Mortgage Corporation Ltd.— a subsidiary of Salomon Brothers International Inc., Fidelity Investment Services Ltd., American Express Europe Ltd., and Crocker National Bank.

Duggal, who studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Tufts University, and received a graduate business degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  Duggal is of American and British nationality, and resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two school-aged children.