From What’s New @ the National Academies:

The U.S. opening ceremony for the International Polar Year took place at the National Academies with over 400 people in attendance. Guests viewed recent video from the polar regions and heard from polar scientists about research to begin under this initiative. High-level government officials also participated in the event.

Here is the link for the PDF Overview of the projects:
http://dels.nas.edu/dels/rptbriefs/IPYfinal2.pdf