List of directors of the British Museum

The Director of the British Museum is the head of the British Museum in London, a post currently held by Nicholas Cullinan. They are responsible for the institution's general administration and reports its accounts to the British Government. The actual governance of the British Museum, however, is delegated to its board of trustees.Principal Librarians and Directors of the British Museum, British Museum, London, UK.

At the museum's inception its most senior member of staff was called "principal librarian". The job title became "director and principal librarian" in 1898, and "director" in 1973, on the separation of the British Library from the museum.

List of directors Principal librarians (1756–1898) 1756–1772: Gowin Knight 1772–1776: Matthew Maty 1776–1799: Charles Morton 1799–1827: Joseph Planta 1827–1856: Sir Henry Ellis 1856–1866: Sir Anthony Panizzi 1866–1873: John Winter Jones 1873–1888: Sir Edward Augustus Bond 1888–1898: Sir Edward Maunde Thompson

Directors and principal librarians (1898–1974) 1898–1909: Sir Edward Maunde Thompson 1909–1931: Sir Frederic George Kenyon 1931–1936: Sir George Francis Hill 1936–1950: Sir John Forsdyke 1950–1959: Sir Thomas Downing Kendrick 1959–1969: Sir Frank Francis 1969–1974: John Wolfenden

Directors (1973) 1974–1977: Sir John Pope-Hennessy 1977–1992: Sir David M. Wilson 1992–2002: Robert Anderson 1999–2001 Suzanna Taverne (managing director) 2003–2015: Neil MacGregor 2016–2023: Hartwig Fischer 2023–2024: Sir Mark Jones (interim) 2024–present: Nicholas Cullinan

List of deputy directors

1971–1983: Maysie Webb; first incumbent 1983–1997: Jean Rankine 1997–2002: 2002–2013: Andrew Burnett 2002–2005: Dawn Austwick"Austwick, Dawn Jacquelyn", Who's Who (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2017). Retrieved 20 June 2018. 2013–2026 Joanna Mackle (her death) 2013–present: Jonathan Williams

See also List of trustees of the British Museum

References