betsy, director of the smith soon yum art museum and guest of our speaker. jerry, washington bureau chief for the buffalo news, chair of the speakers committee and a former national press club president. skipping over our guest of honor for a moment, amy henderson, historian of the national portrait gallery and co organizer of this luncheon. phillip lewis, vice president of the andrew w. melon foundation and guest of our speaker. [cheers and applause] this year marks the 50th birthday of the national endowment for the humanities, an independent federal agency that is funded by taxpayers. our speaker today has chaired the organization since mid 2014, and we hope to hear bro adams plans for marking that anniversary. like its sister organization, the national endowment for the arts, the n.e.h. had shared its politically charged controversies over the years. those cultural debates have largely been eclipsed in recent years and any $148 million budget grants generally go to state humanity consoles, museums, research and educational institutions. a native of michi