Gary M. Beer, the founding chief executive of the Smithsonian's business unit and architect of a controversial deal with Showtime Networks Inc., has announced plans to leave amid internal and congressional inquiries into his management, expense account and promotions of a female subordinate.Beer told staff in an e-mail that he will not attempt to renew his contract in September as chief executive of the seven-year-old Smithsonian Business Ventures. The unit, known internally as SBV, runs museum gift shops, restaurants, theaters and other profitmaking ventures.
The departure of Beer, who earned more than a half-million dollars in 2005, along with the resignation in March of Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small, signals a move away from the high-flying, private-sector culture installed to make the institution run in a more profitable, market-based fashion. The era of Small and Beer was marked by corporate-style compensation, executive-rich expense accounts and deals with private partners that clashed with the scholarly, public-sector ethos of the 160-year-old institution.
"As the Institution reassesses the balance in public and private sectors going forward, I believe this is an opportune time for a change," Beer said in the e-mail late Monday. "The misinformation about SBV that has circulated in the last year is most unfortunate, as the record of accomplishment is one of which we should all be proud."
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