For all its success, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center has long been criticized as a staid institution that plays it safe.

That a staid, stalwart institution like Ochsner would hire the 36-year-old designer is, to say the least, surprising.

Even more staid institutions are getting in on the act: In Washington, the National Geographic Society has opened their own cyber cafe.

He called the First Family "annoying... sitcom stereotypes" and said that it "mines none of the more subtle and satisfying possibilities of poking fun at a staid institution.

Gilbert Kinney, a longtime board member, says Mr. Levy has introduced "a breath of fresh air" into the staid institution.

It's a staid, dated institution.

The scramble for the best names has caused some normally staid institutions to get involved in trademark battles.

Today the Philharmonic, though a technically great orchestra, is a staid artistic institution.

The swath of 44th Street between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas has long been home to storied and staid institutions.

And this was just my hospital, a relatively staid institution on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.