Marc Pachter

Marc Pachter is the director of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC. During a distinguished career he has served as chief historian of the National Portrait Gallery, as a counsellor to the secretary of the Smithsonian, and worked as a senior cultural adviser to the United States Information Agency. An acclaimed moderator, author and editor with a particular interest in cultural history and biography, he has conducted public interviews with such notable figures as William L Shirer, Umberto Eco, Katharine Graham and Walter Cronkite.