Porter N. Wilkinson

Ms. Porter N. Wilkinson was raised in Charlottesville, Virginia and graduated from St. Anne’s-Belfield School.  She received her B.A. Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a three-time All-ACC and All-America selection in women’s lacrosse.  In 2007, she received her J.D. from the University of Virginia.  While at the law school, she was a member of the managing board of the Virginia Law Review, Order of the Coif, and the Raven Society, and was awarded the Thomas Marshall Miller Prize. 

Ms. Wilkinson is the Counselor and Chief of Staff to the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents.  She provides independent counsel to the Board of Regents on a wide range of governance, strategic, and policy issues, and provides Regents’ input with respect to the overall management, coordination, and oversight of the Smithsonian. 

Before joining the Smithsonian, Wilkinson practiced law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  She was a law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., of the Supreme Court of the United States and to then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Ms. Wilkinson is a Governing Board Member of Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School, and an inductee in the Virginia Chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame. 

Ms. Wilkinson was appointed to the Board of Visitors by Governor Youngkin in 2024.