Officers and Trustees
Officers of the Royal Academy of Arts
President Sir Nicholas Grimshaw CBE PRA
Keeper Professor Maurice Cockrill RA
Treasurer Professor Paul Huxley RA
Secretary and Chief Executive Dr Charles Saumarez Smith CBE
Trustees of the Royal Academy Trust
Lord Aldington
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 from 2003. 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, a member of the Board of British Bankers Association and a member of the Chairman’s Council of the London Investment Bankers Association.
Lord Aldington has been Chairman of Deutsche Bank London since 2002. 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 (Chair)
Sir Richard has been Chairman of the Royal Academy’s Capital Appeal Committee since July 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 Jonathan Chenevix-Trench
Mr Chenevix-Trench is co-founder of African Century, an investment platform focused on small and medium sized enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa. Previously he was Chairman and Chief Executive of Morgan Stanley International, where he worked for over twenty three years. Morgan Stanley is a Premier level Corporate Member of the RA and a major supporter of the arts. Mr Chenevix-Trench is also non-executive Chairman of Ashdown Funding PLC, a Governor of the Royal Ballet School, and a trustee of the Chelsea Physic Garden. He became a Trustee of the Royal Academy in June 2007.
Mr 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. He has been a Patron of the Royal Academy since 2003.
Mr Mervyn Davies CBE
Mr Davies has been Chairman of Standard Chartered PLC since November 2006 and is Chairman of Fleming Family & Partners, Chairman of Nordic Windpower Limited, the Chair of the Council of the University of Wales, Bangor and a governor of the London School of Economics. He also holds non-executive directorships with Breakingviews Limited, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and Trinity Limited and is on the Advisory Committees of Corsair Capital LLC and the UK India Business Council.
Since 2007, he has been Chairman of the Interim Executive Committee of the International Centre for Financial Regulation and Chairman of the Business Council for Britain. He is Chairman of The Roundhouse’s Major Projects Board, a trustee of the Sir Kyffin Williams Trust and has been a Director of the Hong Kong Association since August 2007. He became a Trustee of the Royal Academy in 2008.
Ambassador Edward E Elson
Mr Elson is former US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark. He is also first Chairman of National Public Radio and its Foundation, Rector of the University of Virginia, Charter Trustee of Phillips Academy Andover, Trustee of Hampton University, Chairman Emeritus of the Carlos Museum, former member of the Trustees Council of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and trustee Emeritus of Brown University. He was appointed a Trustee of The Royal Academy Trust and Chairman of American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust in September 2006. He joined the Capital Appeal Board in September 2007.
Mr John Entwistle OBE
Mr Entwistle is a solicitor and a part-time Immigration Judge. He has been a Trustee of the RA Trust since January 2006 and Chairman of the RA Schools Patron Group since December 2005. He chaired the inaugural Schools Annual Dinner in 2007.
He currently sits on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel, while previous positions include Trustee of the National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, Chairman of the Social Security Appeal Tribunal and President of the British Chambers of Commerce. Mr Entwistle is also Chairman of the Design Academy Fundraising Board at Liverpool John Moores University.
Mr Stephen Fry
Mr Fry is a well known comedian, writer, actor, novelist, columnist, filmmaker and television personality. As a double act with Hugh Laurie he appeared in A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster, and he is also well known for his roles in Blackadder, Wilde and as the host of QI. In addition to writing for stage, screen, television and radio, he has contributed columns and articles to numerous newspapers and magazines. He has also written four successful novels and an autobiography entitled Moab is My Washpot. Mr Fry has been a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust since June 2006.
HRH Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece
Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess Pavlos of Greece, became a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust in June 2007. She has always been passionate about art and design and in 2000 she launched her eponymous children’s clothing line, which combines these interests. Based in London, Marie-Chantal divides her time between the UK, New York, Paris and Greece.
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, among other appointments, Co-Chairman of the Blackstone Group's International Advisory Board and Chairman of Bain & Co. International. Sir Ronald has held the positions of Managing Director of S.G. Warburg, Vice Chairman of General Electric (UK) and Chairman of GEC International. He has also acted as Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of the U.K. Industrial Reorganization Corporation, as Director-General of the European Commission in Brussels, as Executive Chairman of the South Bank Arts Centre in London and as advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw CBE PRA
Architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw was elected a Royal Academician in 1994 and as President of the Royal Academy of Arts in December 2004. He is a Trustee of the Royal Academy, Chairman of Council, Chairman of the Client Committee and sits on the Capital Appeal Board.
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 and a major benefactor.
Professor Paul Huxley RA
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 Judge (Barbara)
Lady Judge chairs the Benjamin West Group and has co-chaired three RA Balls, including the 2003 Golden Jubilee Ball. In addition to being a Trustee of the RA, she sits on the Investment Committee.
Lady Judge is currently chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, and of SOAS, and is deputy chairman of Friends Provident plc and Forte Energy. She is a director of a number of other public and private companies. She sits on the Governing Body of the Ditchley Foundation and is chairman of the UK/US Task Force on Corporate Governance and serves on numerous other charitable boards and commissions.
Mrs Yoshiko 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.
Dame Jillian Sackler DBE
Dame Jillian has been a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust since 1987 and a Trustee of the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust since 2002. She has been President of AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities since 1980. A major donation from Dame Jillian enabled the Academy to build the Sackler Wing of Galleries which was opened by H M The Queen in 1991.
The Hon Richard S Sharp (Chairman)
Mr Sharp has been a Trustee of the RA Trust since 2004 and succeeded Simon Robertson as Chairman in June 2007. He is also Chair of the RA’s Investment Committee and sits on the Audit Committee and the Capital Appeal Board. Until December 2006, Mr Sharp was Chairman of Goldman Sachs’ Principal Investment Area in Europe, with responsibility for European Private Equity and Mezzanine Funds. He is non-executive Chairman of Huntsworth PLC, a member of the Mayor of London’s Legacy Board of Advisors, 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, Director of Development at SAID Business School, University of Oxford and a Director and the Treasurer of the Centre for Policy Studies. Together with his wife Victoria, Mr Sharp has founded London Music Masters, a London based charity.
Sir David Tang KBE
Sir David Tang, KBE, Chevelier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres, is the founder of The China Club in Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore, Shanghai Tang Stores, and restaurants China Tang in London and Island Tang in Hong Kong. Sir David has taught at Peking University and is a collector of Chinese contemporary art. He is also an advisor to the London Symphony Orchestra, president of the London Bach Society, member of the Chairman's committee at the South Bank and Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Acquisition Committee at Tate Modern. He was appointed a Trustee of the Royal Academy in 1995.
Anya Hindmarch
Anya Hindmarch is one of the world's leading accessories designers with 48 shops around the globe from the UK to Japan.
As well as designing a covetable collection worn by everyone from Reese Witherspoon to Angelina Jolie, Anya is well known for the 2007 global success I'm not a plastic bag, which spearheaded a change in the public's view of plastic bag usage.
Anya has worked with the RA since 2004 when she began her association with the Summer Exhibition Preview Party. She co-chaired the SEPP in 2007 and 2008. Anya was also a member of the Around the World in One Night Committee in 2004 and was on the committee for the 2008 Summer Ball.
