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Officers and Trustees

Officers of the Royal Academy of Arts

President Christopher Le Brun PRA
Keeper Eileen Cooper RA
Treasurer Professor Paul Huxley RA
Secretary and Chief Executive Dr Charles Saumarez Smith CBE

Trustees of the Royal Academy Trust

Lord Davies of Abersoch CBE Chairman
President of the Royal Academy ex officio
Treasurer of the Royal Academy ex officio
Mervyn Davies has served as a trustee of the Royal Academy Trust since 2008, as well as formerly chairing the Corporate Board. He currently also chairs the RA Patrons Group.

Mervyn is a former Trade and Small Business Minister and was Director, Chief Executive and Chairman of Standard Chartered Plc. He is currently a partner at Corsair Capital a private equity firm, Chairman of Pinebridge an asset management company and Chair of the advisory board of Moelis and Company. He is the senior independent director of Diageo and a Non Executive Director of Bharti Airtel. He also chairs the council of Bangor University.

Secretary & Chief Executive of the Royal Academy – Charles Saumarez Smith
Having studied Art History at Kings College, Cambridge and Harvard University, Charles was appointed Head of Research at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1990. In 1994, he became Director of the National Portrait Gallery and, in 2002, Director of the National Gallery. Charles took up his appointment as Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts in September 2007 and was awarded a CBE in 2008.

Lord Aldington
Lord Aldington has been a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust since June 2003 and was appointed Deputy Chairman between 2007 and 2012. He Chairs the RA Investment Committee and was Chairman of the RA's Corporate Board. Lord Aldington has also been a Schools Patron of the RA since 2000 and was a Trustee of the Whitechapel Art Gallery Foundation from 1991-96. He is now also a Governor of the Ditchley Foundation, a member of the Court of Benefactors at Oxford University, a Trustee of the Institute for Philanthropy and Chairman of Stramongate Ltd.
Lord Aldington is a Senior Advisor to Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank is one of the largest global banks and is a Premier level Corporate Patron of the RA. Its art collection contains more than 50,000 paintings worldwide, 4,000 of which are in London. In March 2006, Deutsche Bank entered into a sponsorship of the Royal Academy's Outreach work. The RA Schools are included in the company's Pyramid Award Scheme which offers support to artists.

Sir Richard Carew Pole Bt OBE DL
Sir Richard has been Chair of the Royal Academy's Capital Appeal Committee since June 2007 and a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust since September 2007.
He was President of the Royal Horticultural Society 2001-6 and was a Trustee of the Tate Gallery 1993-2003, The National Heritage Memorial Fund 1991-2000, and the Heritage Lottery Fund 1995-2000. He lives in a National Trust house in Cornwall where he served on the County Council 1973-1993 and was Chairman of the steering committee which established the Tate Gallery of St Ives. He is a Deputy Lieutenant and was High Sheriff in 1979.

Mr Richard Chang
Richard Chang is the Director of Tira Holdings, an investment firm for his family office with interests in media, real estate, hospitality, and fashion. He is the founder of the Domus Collection, a foundation in Beijing, to advance global contemporary art in China. He is also a sponsor of numerous museum exhibitions worldwide. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Whitney, MoMA for PS1. He is also a member of the International Council and the Asia Pacific Acquisitions Committee at the Tate. Mr. Chang received his BS from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Mr Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry was elected as a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust in 2007. Mr Fry studied at Cambridge University where he met and worked with amongst others, Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie, a life long friend and comedy partner. The Footlights revue he wrote and performed with Thompson, Laurie and Tony Slattery won the first ever Perrier Award and was televised by the BBC. There followed ‘Alfresco’, a comedy and three series of Blackadder with Rowan Atkinson.

He hosts the BBC quiz show QI (8 series), has completed two series of Absolute Power with John Bird for the BBC and appeared in numerous single dramas for television, including Tom Brown’s Schoolboys and most recently the series Kingdom for ITV. Stephen's most recent documentary, Stephen Fry in America, a journey through all 50 American states, filming Last Chance to See in remote parts of the world, a documentary which revisits endangered species.

HRH Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece
Princess Marie-Chantal is the daughter of Robert W Miller and a member of the Greek royal family. Marie-Chantal married Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, Prince of Denmark in 1995. She became a Trustee of the RA Trust in 2007. Based in London, she divides herself between the UK, New York, Paris and Greece.

In 2000, Princess Marie-Chantal launched her children’s wear business under the name "Marie-Chantal LLC" Inspired by a love of children and a notable gap in the children’s clothing market and now has a number of stores worldwide. Princess Marie-Chantal has always garnered a love for the arts and has also illustrated her first book in a planned series of classical fairytales, "The Frog Prince." Princess Marie-Chantal is due to set up her own charitable foundation to develop awareness for children with learning difficulties by creating a program with the arts.

Sir Ronald Grierson
Sir Ronald Grierson has been a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust since February 2003. He is a renowned banker and industrialist who is currently Co-Chairman of the Blackstone Group's International Advisory Board and the Strategic Advisory Council of Thorium Power.

Sir Ronald's charitable links include being a member of the South Bank Board 1984-90 and a trustee of the Phillips Collection in Washington 1980-98. He is currently a trustee of the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation and the European Studies Foundation, Oxford University.

Mrs Drue Heinz, Hon DBE
Mrs Heinz has been a Trustee of the RA Trust since 1993 and a Trustee of the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust since 2002. She is the widow of the late H. J. Heinz. Mrs Heinz is an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy.

Rev C. Hugh Hildesley
Mr. Hildesley is Chairman of the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust. He is Executive Vice President of Sotheby’s, North & South America having joined Sotheby’s in London in 1961 and was first head of the New York Old Master Paintings Department, which he led from 1964-1970, and was first head of Sotheby’s Appraisal Company, which he formed as a separate company in 1970. Educated at Sherborne School and Brasenose College, Oxford, Mr. Hildesley studied Dutch and Flemish Old Master paintings at the Rijksbureau Voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie in the Hague. Mr. Hildesley is a Director of Sotheby’s (Canada) Inc and Chairman of Sotheby’s (Canada) Advisory Board, as well as directing Sotheby’s International Advisory Board. He has lectured widely on the art market and is author of The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling at Auction, published by W.W. Norton in 1996. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (F.R.S.A.).

Mrs Anya Hindmarch MBE
Anya Hindmarch is one of the worlds leading accessory designers. Anya started her business at the age of 19 with an intimate first floor shop on London's Walton Street. She now has 53 shops worldwide, and recently launched a new concept, Anya Hindmarch Bespoke in London.

In 2009, Anya Hindmarch was awarded a MBE in recognition for her contribution to the British fashion industry.

Anya has co-chaired the Summer Exhibition Preview Party since 2007, having previously served on the 2004, 2005 and 2006 SEPP Committees. She was also a member of the Around the World in One Night Committee in 2004. She joined the RA as a Trustee in 2008.

Lady Judge CBE
Lady Judge chairs the Benjamin West Group and has chaired four Royal Academy Balls, including the 2003 Golden Jubilee Ball. She has been a Trustee of the RA Trust since 2003.
Lady Judge is currently chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the UK Pension Protection Fund. She is also chair of the International Advisory Board of SOAS and the London Middle East Institute, as well as the Energy Institute of University College London. She is a director of a number of other public and private companies and sits on the Governing Body of the Ditchley Foundation. She is chairman of the UK/US Task Force on Corporate Governance and is a member of the Trilateral Commission. She also serves on numerous other charitable boards and organisations. Previously, she was Commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the first woman director of Samuel Montagu and News International among others.

Mr Philip Marsden
Mr Marsden is Chairman of the RA's Corporate Board, which he joined in January 2007. He is Chairman and Partner at the international leadership advisory firm Ridgeway Partners LLP, which he founded with a former colleague in 2004. Ridgeway Partners is a global consulting boutique specializing in executive search, leadership advice and assessment. It has offices in Boston, London and New York as well as research capabilities in Asia and Africa. Mr Marsden became a Trustee of the RA Trust in 2009.

Mrs Minoru Mori
Mrs Mori has been a Trustee of the RA Trust since 1999. She is Chair of the Mori Art Museum located in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, which she co-founded with her husband in 2003.

Mrs Mori is also a corporate member of the Japanese Committee of Honour.

Mrs Frances Osborne
Frances Osborne is the best-selling author of three books: two biographies, and a novel. The Bolter: was an international bestseller. Lilla's Feast: A story of love, war, and a passion for food ) has been translated into six languages, was a Kiriyama Prize Notable Book and a New York Times Editor's Choice. Her third book and first novel, Park Lane, is set in a London Mansion in 1914. It will be published in the UK and US in June 2012, and is already a Bookseller magazine’s Booksellers' Choice.Frances is currently working on her second novel – a story set in the same mansion in Park Lane, but three generations earlier, in the 1860’s, when the newly rich Masters family first arrive in London. She lives between London and the Peak District National Park, with her husband George and their two children.

Dame Jillian Sackler DBE
As an Executive Committee member, Mrs. Sackler is very involved with the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust. She is the President of the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Science and Humanities. Mrs Sackler is a Trustee of the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Ballet, the National Gallery of Art Founding Benefactors, and the Council of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC. Mrs Sackler and her husband, the late Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, are known for their generous philanthropy and specific projects including the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian, the Sackler Museum at Harvard, the Sackler Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Jillian and Arthur M. Sackler Wing at the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Sackler Museum at Beijing University. She serves as a Trustee of the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the American Film Institute, and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Mrs Sackler is a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust in London and has served on the Board of the American Associates since 1988.

Mr Richard S Sharp
Mr Sharp has been a Trustee of the RA Trust since 2004 and Chairman between 2007 and 2012. He is also Chair of the RA's Remuneration Committee and sits on the Finance Committee and the Capital Appeal Board.

Mr Sharp has served as Chairman of PR and communications group, Huntworth plc, since 2008. In December 2006, he stepped down as Chairman of Goldman Sach's Principal Investment Area in Europe.

He is Deputy Chairman of the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign, a Trustee of the Royal Marsden Hospital, a Director of the Institute of Cancer Research, a Director of International Rescue Committee UK, a member of the Mayor of London's Legacy Board of Advisors, the Director of Development of the SAID Business School, University of Oxford, and a Director of the Centre for Policy Studies.

Sir David Tang KBE
Sir David Tang, KBE, Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, was born in Hong Kong and studied in England. He also taught at Peking University before founding Shanghai Tang and the China Club. He has also been a director and adviser to Blackstone, British Airways, Tommy Hilfiger, and the Savoy Group of Hotels in London

Sir David is passionately involved with the arts and has been a trustee of the Royal Academy of Arts for 15 years. He is also chairman of the Asia- Pacific Acquisitions Committee at the Tate and adviser to the London Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra, and President of the London Bach Society. He is an avid collector of contemporary Chinese art; and has given concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he is a governor.

Sir David is also founder of the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, and vice-chairman of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, as well as numerous other charities, but notably as founding president of the Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association, and patron of the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation.

Mr Peter Williams
Peter, who was appointed a trustee of the RAT and a member of the Finance Committee of the RA in June 2011, was Finance Director of Daily Mail and General Trust plc (‘DMGT’) for nearly 20 years until his retirement in March this year. DMGT owns the Daily Mail and Metro newspapers, but also a range of regional newspapers and radio, exhibition and information businesses around the world.
Peter is now a non executive director of Perform Group, a digital sports media company, and of Ibis Media VCT, a small investment fund, has retained his role as chairman of the investment committee of the DMGT pension schemes, and has taken on a non executive role at Cambridge Assessment, a part of Cambridge University.

Trustee Emeriti & Honorary Trustees

Mrs Susan Burns
Sir James Butler CBE DL
The Rt Hon the Lord Carrington KG GCMG CH MC
Sir Trevor Chinn CVO
Mr John Coombe
Ambassador Edward E Elson
Mr John Entwistle OBE
Mr Michael Gee
The Rt Hon the Earl of Gowrie PC
Mr Paul Josefowitz
Mrs Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler
The Rt Hon the Lord Kingsdown KG
Lady Lever
Sir Sydney Lipworth QC
The Rt Hon the Lord Luce GCVO DL
Lady Myners
Mr Eddy Pirard
Mr John Raisman CBE
Mr John Roberts FRIBA
Sir Simon Robertson
Sir Evelyn de Rothschild
Mrs Maryam Sachs