Peter F. Cannell, director of the Smithsonian Institution Press, previously diagnosed as suffering from a brain tumor, died May 18 at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 47. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Museum of Natural History, Cannell joined the press in 1988 as a technical editor. He was named director of the press in 1996. He is credited with expanding the press's pool of authors and publishing numerous award-winning titles in biology, botany and zoology.