In 1846 Congress established the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., eleven years after receiving a bequest from Englishman James Smithson. The charter established a seventeen-member board with representatives from all three branches (the Chief Justice, the Vice President, and six members of Congress) as well as nine citizens. By tradition, the board elects the Chief Justice as Chancellor of the Smithsonian, a position that current Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. has held since 2005.