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
Richard S Sharp (Chairman)
Mr Sharp has been a Trustee of the RA Trust since 2004. 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, where he was responsible for European Private Equity and Mezzanine Funds. He had joined the firm in 1984.
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.
Together with his wife Victoria, Mr Sharp founded London Music Masters, a London-based charity that supports the involvement of young musicians in classical music and is focused on both community development activities and supporting exceptional individual talent.
Lord Aldington (Deputy Chairman)
Lord Aldington has been a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust since June 2003 and was appointed Deputy Chairman in June 2007. He Chairs the RA Investment Committee and was Chairman of the RA's Corporate Board. He has also been a Schools Patron of the RA since 2000. He was a Trustee of the Whitechapel Art Gallery Foundation from 1991-96 and 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 RA 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.
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, and the Royal Academy of Arts. 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.
John Coombe
Mr Coombe has been a Trustee of the RA Trust since 2003. He is also Chair of the Audit Committee a member of the Finance Committee and sits on the Council of the Royal Academy. Mr Coombe is Chairman of Hogg Robinson plc, Non-Executive Director of HSBC Holdings and Home Retail Group plc, and former Chief Financial Officer of GlaxoSmithKline plc.
Lord Davies of Abersoch
Lord Davies became a Trustee of the Royal Academy in 2008 and has recently stepped up as Chair of the Royal Academy Patrons. Lord Davies was on the RA Corporate Board for four years and the Burlington Appeal Committee for two years.
Lord Davies is the former government Minister for Trade, Investment and Small Business at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. He is also Chair of the Council of the University of Wales and has served on many boards and governing committees including Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, Corsair Capital LLC and the UK India Business Council.
Ambassador Edward Elson
Ambassador Elson was appointed a Trustee of The Royal Academy Trust September 2006. He has also served as Chairman of the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust. Ambassador Elson joined the Capital Appeal Board in September 2007 and both Mr and Mrs Elson sat on the 2008 Ball committee.
Mr Elson served as the United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark from 1993 through 1998. He was the University of Virginia's 34th rector (chairman), the first chairman of National Public Radio and the first chairman of the NPR Foundation. Ambassador Elson is a charter trustee of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he has endowed the Edward E. Elson Artists-in-Residence Program at the Addison Gallery of American Art since 1982. He was also a trustee of Hampton University, and a trustee emeritus of Brown University.
Stephen Fry
Stephen 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. Stephen has also completed the second part of his autobiography to be published in autumn 2010. Stephen Fry was elected as a Trustee in 2007.
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.
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw CBE PRA
President of the Royal Academy of Arts
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw is an architect with an international reputation. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1994 and President of the Royal Academy in December 2004. His own practice is best known in the UK for the International Railway Terminal for Eurostar at Waterloo and the Eden Project in Cornwall, among many others. Current projects worldwide include the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York State, The Fulton Street Transport Interchange close to Ground Zero in New York and Southern Cross Railway Station in Melbourne, Australia. He was knighted in 2002 and continues to actively lead his practice as Chairman of the Board.
The Hon Mrs Drue Heinz 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.
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.
Professor Paul Huxley RA
Treasurer of the Royal Academy
Professor Huxley is an artist who was elected a Royal Academician in 1987. He has been Treasurer of the Royal Academy and a Trustee since 2000 and joined the RA’s Capital Appeal Board in September 2007. He was Professor of Painting at the Royal College of Art from 1986 until 1998 after which he was elected Professor Emeritus and Honorary Fellow.
Professor Huxley has sat on advisory panels for the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Serpentine Gallery, has been a Trustee of the Tate Gallery and a former Chairman of its Exhibitions Committee, and was also Chairman of the Art & Design Research Exercise for the Higher Education Funding Council for England. His wife, Susie Allen-Huxley, is Co-founder and Chair of the RA's Contemporary Patrons Group.
Lady Barbara Judge
Lady Judge chairs the Benjamin West Group and has chaired four RA 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, International Advisor of SOAS and Deputy Chairman of its London Middle East Institute. 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 a member of the Trilateral commission. She also serves on numerous other charitable boards and organisations.
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. Her husband, Minoru Mori, is President and CEO of Mori Building Co. Ltd.
Mrs Mori is also a corporate member of the Japanese Committee of Honour.
Dame Jillian Sackler DBE
As an Executive Committee member, Mrs. Sackler is very involved with AARAT. 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.
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.
