The Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum is the head of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a post currently held by Tristram Hunt, who succeeded Martin Roth, who died in August 2017, months after he announced he would resign in January. The postholder is responsible for that institution's general administration and reports its accounts to the British Government.
The actual governance of the museum, however, is delegated to its board of trustees; these are appointed individually by the British Prime Minister.Trustees of the V&A. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2011-12-11 The National Heritage Act 1983, which established the museum's board of trustees, provides the prime minister's power to appoint the members and the chair of the board of trustees, and provides for the director to be appointed by this board, with the approval of the prime minister.
List of directors PortraitDirectorServedPost heldSir Henry Cole (1808–1882)1852–1873Organised and conducted the two museums from which the Victoria and Albert Museum grew: the Museum of Oriental Art and the South Kensington Museum Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, (1828–1894)1874–1893Director of the South Kensington MuseumJohn Henry Middleton (1846–1896)1893–1896Director of the Art Museum (division of the Victoria and Albert Museum)Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke (1846–1911)1896–1905Director of the Art Museum (division of the Victoria and Albert Museum)Arthur Banks Skinner (1861–1911)1905–1908Director of the Art Museum (division of the Victoria and Albert Museum)Sir Cecil Harcourt-Smith, (1859–1944)1909–1924Director and secretary of the Victoria and Albert MuseumSir Eric Maclagan (1879–1951)1924–1945Director and secretary of the Victoria and Albert MuseumSir Leigh Ashton (1897–1983)1945–1955Director and secretary of the Victoria and Albert MuseumSir Trenchard Cox (1905–1995)1956–1966Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert MuseumSir John Pope-Hennessy (1913–1994)1967–1973Director and secretary of the Victoria and Albert MuseumSir Roy Strong (born 1935)1973–1987Director and secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll (19382024) 1987–1995Director and secretary of the Victoria and Albert MuseumAlan Borg (born 1942)1995–2001Director and secretary of the Victoria and Albert MuseumSir Mark Jones (born 1951)2001–2011Director of the Victoria and Albert MuseumMartin Roth (1955–2017)2011–2016Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum Tristram Hunt (born 1974)2017–presentDirector of the Victoria and Albert Museum
References