The Courtauld’s Governing Board promotes the long-term success of The Courtauld and ensures that its charitable aims and regulatory obligations are met. The Governing Board sets strategy, risk appetite and priorities for The Courtauld and approves the operating and financial plans to achieve target strategic outcomes on the recommendation of management.
Appointed Governors
Up to 12 persons appointed by the Governing Board who are not members of Staff or Students:
The Lord Browne of Madingley
Lord Browne is the Chairman of the Board of Governors at The Courtauld. He joined BP plc in 1966, becoming its Group Chief Executive in 1995 until retirement in 2007. He is Chairman of BeyondNetZero, a climate growth equity fund, and sits on a range of other boards. He has a wide variety of not-for-profit interests and is currently Co-Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology, Chairman of the Francis Crick Institute, and a Board Member of the Royal Opera House. He has previously been President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, Chairman of the Tate and Chairman of the Donmar Warehouse.
“I joined The Courtauld for two reasons. Firstly, because The Courtauld’s remarkable nature as both a world-class university and a gallery with a collection of exceptional paintings embodies two of my greatest passions: art and education. And secondly, to use my experience leading a variety of businesses and cultural institutions to help guide The Courtauld through the transformation they are currently undertaking”
Term expires August 2027
Professor Julia Black CBE FBA
Julia Black is Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford and Professor of Law and Regulation at Oxford University. She is President of the British Academy, a member of the Prime Minister’s Council of Science and Technology, and an External Member of the Prudential Regulation Authority and of the Financial Market Infrastructure Committee at the Bank of England. Her primary research interest is the legitimacy and dynamics of regulatory systems, and she has written extensively on regulatory issues in a number of areas, advised policy makers, consumer bodies, law reform bodies and regulators on issues of institutional design and regulatory policy in the UK and overseas. She is a Visiting Professor of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, an Honorary Bencher of Gray’s Inn and an Honorary Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford.
“I feel delighted and privileged to join The Courtauld’s Governing Board. The Courtauld is a remarkable institution, combining academic excellence in art history with an outstanding art collection and gallery. It also has a strong commitment to public engagement, and to making the visual arts accessible to all. I hope to use my knowledge of academic institutions and the wider research policy environment to contribute to the work of The Courtauld as it moves forward over the next few years.”
Term expires July 2028
Sir Leszek Borysiewicz
Sir Leszek is the former Chair of Cancer Research UK and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (2010 to 2017). He is a distinguished academic with an extensive research career focused on the immune response to common viruses and in 2001 was knighted for his pioneering vaccine research. He was Chief Executive of the UK’s Medical Research Council from 2007 to 2010 and Deputy Rector of Imperial College 2004 to 2007.
“The Courtauld is a unique institution of well recognised international excellence in the visual arts. It combines both public exhibition and academic endeavour alongside each other which gives it a distinctive and important presence in both higher education and the arts in general. This is extremely exciting and I believe can set The Courtauld apart from all other such institutions. I look forward to helping deliver the academic interface in an already exceptional institution.”
Term expires December 2026
Peter Budd
Peter is a former Non-Executive Director with Arup, having previously worked with the firm for over 45 years in a full time capacity as a Chartered civil/structural engineer. His experience included tours of duty in the USA, the Middle East, East Asia and Central Africa. He was involved in many of Arup’s most prestigious projects and set up and ran successful Arup businesses in the UK and in North America. From 1998 to 2016 Peter also led Arup’s Global Aviation business. Peter has been involved in a number of public sector initiatives promoting the profession and international trade and was appointed CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list July 2017 for services relating to developing Sino-British trade. Mr Budd is the Chairman of The Courtauld Connects Steering Group.
Term expires July 2025
Charmian Caines
Ms Caines is a Senior Partner and Managing Director of management consultancy firm, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During her career at BCG she has served many leading consumer and retail companies. She has led BCG’s W Europe and UK Consumer, Retail and Travel practise. She now leads BCG efforts on climate adaptation and resilience and serves the UK Government on topics such as economic growth and development. She is currently also Chair of the Galapagos Conservation Trust. She is a former Advisory Board Member of River Island.
“I was delighted to become a Governor of The Courtauld Institute because I see it as a truly unique combination of high quality art education and a leading art collection. I would like the opportunity to bring my strategic and commercial experience to bear as the organisation carries out its ambitious Connect programme.”
Term expires December 2026
Neil Chugani
Neil Chugani is an experienced Chief Financial Officer, having served in this role with global brands including Warner Bros. Discovery, Google & YouTube and BBC Worldwide. He has also been an active advocate for the cause of diversity, equity and inclusion at several organisations, most recently on the International DEI Executive SteerCo. for Discovery, Inc. Neil previously served on the Board of UK Sport, the Government’s lead strategic body for Olympic and Paralympic Sport, as an Independent Member, Chairman of the Audit Committee, and member of the Major Events Panel. He was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2009 and was educated at Oxford University.
“I feel honoured to have been appointed to the Governing Board of the Courtauld, which uniquely offers world class education to its students, and a world class permanent collection to the public. I believe in the power of both the visual arts and education to enrich the human experience, and in the mission of the Courtauld to broaden access to art to as many people as possible. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to apply my experience in media, technology and finance to help further the organisation’s progress toward delivering on that mission.”
Term expires June 2027
Dr Gabriele Finaldi
Dr Finaldi has been Director of the National Gallery since August 2015. He was previously Deputy Director for Collections and Research at the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, a position he took up in 2002. Prior to his role at the Prado, he was a curator at the National Gallery from 1992-2002, where he was responsible for the later Italian paintings in the collection and the Spanish collection. Dr Finaldi is an Alumnus of The Courtauld, completing his BA in 1987; MA in 1989 and PhD in 1995.
“As a Courtauld alumnus, I was honoured to be asked to join the Governing Board. The combination of teaching excellence, superb libraries and the Gallery’s collections make The Courtauld an institution that has a great deal to offer the art history and museums world but also society at large. Its international student body and its worldwide networks give it a real edge. From my current role at the National Gallery, I felt I was in a position to assist in its process of transformation and growth.”
Term expires July 2025
James Freedman
James Freedman is an experienced entrepreneur with expertise in combining strategic vision with commercial acumen to identify innovative approaches to creating long-term, sustainable revenue streams. James has a deep interest in education and the arts, having graduated with a degree in Classics from Queens’ College, Cambridge and recently completed a master’s in history of art at UCL. He sits on boards of both commercial companies and charities and is currently studying for a Masters in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents at Birkbeck College, University of London.
“I am delighted to be joining The Courtauld’s board. Education changed my life for the better, and I feel privileged by the opportunity to help The Courtauld do the same for a new generation. Its mission could not be more critical, and I look forward to contributing my own digital and technology experience.”
Term expires June 2027
Hugh Langmuir
Hugh Langmuir is a founder and former managing partner of the European private equity firm, Cinven. Based in London and Paris, he was responsible for making investments across multiple industry sectors and for raising successive funds from Cinven’s clients across the globe. Prior to joining Cinven in 1991, he started his career as an investment banker with Citigroup and as a management consultant with Bain & Co. He holds degrees from the University of Edinburgh, Harvard University and London Business School.
“I am honoured to be a member of the Board of this renowned institution. As a keen supporter of higher education and as an art lover, I endeavour to use my management and investment experience to help the Courtauld navigate the many challenges it faces in an increasingly uncertain world and to ensure that it not only retains but builds upon its standing as a university and art gallery of the first rank”
Term expires June 2027
Hugues Lepic
Hugues Lepic is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aleph Capital Partners, a London-based investment firm. Prior to founding Aleph, he spent 22 years at Goldman Sachs where he was the Head of the Merchant Banking Division in Europe, and a member of the European Management Committee. He currently serves on the boards of Ekinops SA and Darag Group Limited and was previously on the boards of a number of investments including Iliad, Neuf Cegetel, Eutelsat, Prysmian, Groupe Eurotunnel, Pages Jaunes Groupe, Technicolor and Interoute. Mr Lepic is currently the Chair of the Investments Committee and Audit & Risk Committee at The Courtauld.
Term expires March 2028
Sally Osman
Ms Osman led communications and reputation management at two of the UK’s most valued and enduring cultural institutions, Buckingham Palace, where she was Director, Royal Communications, and the BBC where she was Director of Communications. She was a Trustee of the Art Fund for 10 years and is currently a non executive director on the governance Boards of English National Opera and Our Future Health, the UK’s largest ever health research project. Ms Osman is the Chair of The Courtauld’s Joint Honours Committee and a board member of the Samuel Courtauld Trust.
“An invitation to join The Courtauld board is a great honour. The institution’s global reputation and influence through its collection, its academic excellence and its alumni is of immense value. I hope my experience of working within organisations that undergo constant change to ensure they are relevant for future generations will also be of value.”
Term expires July 2027
The Lord Petitgas
Lord Petitgas was a special adviser on business and investment to British prime minister Rishi Sunak and was made a member of the House of Lords in 2024. He was formerly Head of Morgan Stanley International and sat on the Firm’s Operating Committee. He is President of the Tate Foundation and formerly the Senior Trustee on the Tate Board. Trustee of Glyndebourne, Patron of Chichester Festival Theatre, he is a Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur of France. Mr Petitgas is the Chair of The Courtauld’s Governance, Nomination & Remuneration Committee.
Term expires December 2026
Ex Officio Governors
Märit Rausing Director: Professor Mark Hallett
Mark Hallett has been Märit Rausing Director of the Courtauld since August 2023. Following his studies at Cambridge and the Courtauld, Professor Hallett started his career at the University of York, where he taught in the History of Art Department for eighteen years. In 2012, he moved to London to become Director of the Paul Mellon Centre for British Art, a post which he held for more than a decade. Over his career, he has published numerous monographs and catalogues on the history of British art, and curated major exhibitions at Tate Britain, the Wallace Collection, the Royal Academy and the Yale Center for British art. At the Courtauld, he oversees all aspects of its work as both a specialist scholarly organisation and a world-class gallery.
President of The J. Paul Getty Trust: Katherine E. Fleming
Katherine E. Fleming assumed her post as president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust on August 1, 2022. An accomplished academic leader and internationally recognised scholar of Mediterranean history, religion, and culture, she served as Provost of New York University from 2016 to 2022. She was instrumental in NYU’s development as a research powerhouse and in its emergence as one of the world’s most global institutions, leading NYU’s strategy in Europe. She has served as Alexander S. Onassis Professor of Hellenic Culture and Civilization at NYU, and as a long-standing Associate Professor of History at the Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris. From 2012-2016 she chaired the Board of the University of Piraeus, Greece. An elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she is also Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor and Commander in the Greek Order of Beneficence. Fleming began her career in California, earning her doctorate at UC Berkeley and then teaching at various institutions in Southern California before going to NYU in 1998.
“It is particularly gratifying to serve on the board of an institution that has a mission similar to that of my own– unifying the education, research, and display of art under one institutional umbrella.”
Chairman, Samuel Courtauld Trust: Andrew Hochhauser KC
Andrew Hochhauser KC was appointed as the Chairman of the Samuel Courtauld Trust in December 2019. He is a barrister at Essex Court Chambers, a Harmsworth scholar and Bencher of Middle Temple, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Deputy High Court Judge. In 2011, he obtained an MA from The Courtauld Institute of Art, where he specialised in British Modernism. He is a Trustee of the V&A Foundation, the National AIDS Trust, Ballet Black, Aurora Orchestra and Orchestra for the Earth and a Governor of the University of the Arts London. In 2022 he was appointed to the Chair of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural interest.
“My connection with The Courtauld began in 2010 when I began my MA in British Modernism. As an alumnus, I have been closely involved with the affairs of the Institute, as an active supporter and as the Chair of its Ethics Committee, until my appointment as Chair of the Samuel Courtauld Trust in 2019. It is a privilege to serve on the Boards of both the SCT and The Courtauld , to work to achieve the vision of Samuel Courtauld by enabling the widest possible access to this world-class collection to the broadest audiences for enjoyment, research and study, and to support the work of the Institute and its global reputation as a centre of excellence for the study of history of art, research, curation and conservation.”
President, Students’ Union: Prune Engérant
Prune Engérant was elected President of The Courtauld’s Student Union in May 2024, after graduating with honours from her MA degree in History of Art. Undertaking Professor Alixe Bovey’s special option course ‘The Supernatural in the Middle Ages,’ Prune specialised in depictions of motherhood and monstrosity in late-medieval visual culture, with a special interest in manuscript illuminations. Prune was also the MA Student Representative for the year 2023/24, and holds an undergraduate degree in History of Art and English Literature from The University of Edinburgh.
“I am so pleased to be joining the Courtauld’s Governing Board as the incoming Students’ Union President. The Courtauld is a truly unique institution –– simultaneously promoting world-class research, academic learning, and public exhibition programming. I look forward to representing our student body, and working alongside the board of governors to ensure the continued success of our institute.”
Elected Governors
Three persons elected by and from the Academic Staff in accordance with regulations made by the Governing Board:
Academic Staff: Professor Jo Applin
Jo Applin is Professor in the History of Art at The Courtauld. Between 2018-2020 she was Head of the History of Art Department. She works on art since 1960 and is the author of numerous books and articles. Her current project is about feminism, art and ageing. In 2012 she was the recipient of a Philip Leverhulme Prize. She has been a Visiting Scholar at Université de Paris 1, Sorbonne-Panthéon, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. She was Senior Scholar at the Terra Foundation, Giverny, and a Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies, and Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. She currently sits on the Advisory Council of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, and is an Editor at Oxford Art Journal. From Autumn 2023 Jo will be Director for the Terra-funded Centre of American Art at The Courtauld. She is committed to working with the Board and colleagues across the institute to ensure and safeguard The Courtauld’s national and international reputation as an outstanding research and teaching institute and art gallery.
Term expires March 2027
Academic Staff: Dr Stephen Whiteman
Dr Stephen Whiteman is Reader in the Art and Architecture of China at the Courtauld. A specialist in the visual and spatial cultures of early modern and modern East and Southeast Asia, his current efforts focus on transcultural histories of Asian art and strengthening the place of art histories from outside Euroamerica at the Courtauld and in the discipline as a whole. His research has been supported by fellowships and major grants from the British Academy, the Getty Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Dumbarton Oaks, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts, among others. He is a Trustee of the Association for Art History and has served in leadership roles with the College Art Association and Society of Architectural Historians (US), as well. Prior to joining the Courtauld in 2019, he was Senior Lecturer in Asian Art and Deputy Director of the Power Institute Foundation for Art and Visual Culture at the University of Sydney, where he continues as an Honorary Associate in Art History.
“I am honoured to have been elected by my faculty colleagues to represent them on the Governing Board. The Courtauld is a remarkable institution with a unique capacity to lead by example. I have joined the Governing Board to help support the Courtauld in its mission as a world-leading institution for art history and conservation that embraces its traditional strengths while charting new paths in the arts and humanities.”
Term ends July 2027
Two persons elected by and from staff other than the Academic Staff in accordance with regulations made by the Governing Board:
Non-Academic Staff: Chrissy Baker
Chrissy is Development Events and Venue Hire Lead at The Courtauld. She joined the Development team in January 2019 at the start of gallery’s closure for its major transformation project. Since then she has lead the strategy and delivery of international major donor, alumni and member events. Since the Gallery re-opened in 2021, Chrissy has launched new business streams to generate commercial income at the Gallery.
Prior to The Courtauld, Chrissy has experience in high-value fundraising, donor stewardship and special events for major UK charities Macmillan Cancer Support and Marie Curie.
“I feel proud to represent my colleagues on The Courtauld Governing Board. The Courtauld is a unique place and it’s made special by hard-working people who collaboratively drive forward our ambitious future, both at our home in London and on a global scale.”
Term expires June 2027
One person elected from the staff of The Courtauld Gallery in accordance with regulations made by the Governing Board;
Non-Academic Staff – Gallery: Dr Alexandra Gernstein
Dr Alexandra Gerstein is the Curator of sculpture and decorative arts at the Courtauld Gallery and the lead curator for Nazi-era provenance and restitution matters. She is responsible for a wide-ranging collection spanning European medieval ivories, Renaissance maiolica, glass and sculpture, Islamic metalwork, 18th-century English silver and furniture, and 19th and early 20th century sculpture. Her research interests include processes of sculptural production in the 19th and early 20th century, the art of the Bloomsbury Group and the history of collecting. In 2016-17 she curated the exhibition Rodin and Dance: The Essence of Movement in the Courtauld Gallery, which explored the intersection of modern dance and sculptural process in Rodin’s late works. She is currently co-curating an exhibition, with Professor Jo Applin, showcasing sculpture by three major American artists. The exhibition, planned for The Courtauld Gallery in June 2025, is entitled Abstract Erotic: Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and Alice Adams.
“I am honoured to be on the board of The Courtauld and to participate as a Governor. It is an exciting time in the history of The Courtauld. Many positive changes have been made and many more are planned, both with respect to the future Courtauld campus and to widening the diversity of the institution and those it serves.”
Term expires March 2027
Secretary to the Governing Board
Alison Kennell
Alison is Company Secretary and Director of Governance at the Courtauld Institute of Art, with responsibility for corporate governance and oversight of compliance functions.
Prior to arriving at The Courtauld in April 2024, Alison acquired more than 25 years’ experience in the UK higher education sector, working across a range of institutions and sector-related bodies including Leeds Beckett University, SOAS University of London, York St John University and the University of York. Her roles have included responsibility for a broad portfolio of professional services covering governance and compliance matters, registry and academic support services and project management.
Alison holds a BA and MA from the University of York and an MBA from University College London.
Alison is currently a Trustee for Young Citizens (registered charity no. 801360).