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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University President Paul Risser has been appointed to a three-year term on the board of directors for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.

The natural history museum is one of the largest and most popular of the Smithsonian museums, drawing some six million visitors each year. The museum offers permanent exhibits focusing on human cultures, mammals, birds, gems and fossils, and produces or hosts a number of temporary exhibits.

The museum is in the process of upgrading and renovating many of its exhibits, including the marine life hall and the hall of African cultures.

Risser, who has been president of OSU since Jan. 1, 1996, is an internationally known scientist. He began his academic career as a biologist and ecologist, studying grassland and forest ecosystems, environmental planning and management, and global change.

A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Risser has been active in national and international science organizations. He served as president of the Ecological Society of American and the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and was secretary general to the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment, headquartered in Paris, France.