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 venture, 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 Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. He has previously been President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the Tate.
“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 2025
Sir Leszek Borysiewicz
Sir Leszek is 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 2022
Charmian Caines
Ms Caines is a Senior Partner and Managing Director of management consultancy firm, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) serving leading consumer and retail companies. She has led BCG’s W Europe and UK Consumer, Retail and Travel practise. She is currently also a Councillor for CBI London and 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 2022
Peter Budd
Peter is currently a 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 2024
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 May 2025
Dr John Garcia
Dr Garcia is Executive Chairman of AEA Investors, a global private markets investing organisation, which he joined in 1999. He relinquished the role of CEO in 2019 and in 2020 formed AEA-Bridges Impact Corp., a NYSE-listed company whose goal it is to further one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Dr Garcia is a trustee of the Garcia Family Foundation and the Swiss Institute, and is Chair of the Courtauld’s Finance and Operations Committee.
Term expires March 2023
Sally Osman
Ms Osman has led and shaped communications 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 Youth Music for ten years, a Trustee of the Art Fund and a Non-Executive Director at the Welsh National Opera. Ms Osman is the Chair of The Courtauld’s Joint Honours Committee.
“An invitation to join The Courtauld board is a great honour. The institution’s global reputation and influence through its collection, its expertise and its alumni is of immense value. I hope my experience of working within organisations that undergo constant change and transition to ensure they are relevant for future generations will also be of value.”
Term expires July 2023
Franck Petitgas
Mr Petitgas is Head of Morgan Stanley International and sits 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, Nominations & Remuneration Committee.
Term expires December 2022
Professor Julia Black CBE FBA
Julia Black is Strategic Director of Innovation and Professor of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is also an External Member of the Prudential Regulation Authority, Senior Independent Member of the Board of UKRI and a member of the Council of Science and Technology. Julia will also be the new President of The British Academy in 2021. 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.
“ 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.”
Appointed from 6 July 2020 until 5 July 2024.
Hugues Lepic
Appointed from 20 March 2020 until March 2024
Hugues Lepic is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aleph Capital Partners LLP, 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.
Ex Officio Governors
Professor Deborah Swallow
Deborah Swallow has been Märit Rausing Director of The Courtauld since 2004. Professor Swallow started her career teaching English at Utkal University, Orissa, India in 1969 and, having trained as an anthropologist, subsequently developed a career as curator at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she became the Keeper of the Asian Department and Director of Collections. In her role as Director she is responsible for The Courtauld’s current transformation project, Courtauld Connects.
Professor James Cuno
Professor Cuno has been President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust since 2011. He was previously Director of the Art Institute of Chicago (2004-2011), and was Director of Harvard University Art Museums and Professor of the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard from 1991-2002. Professor Cuno was Director of The Courtauld from 2002-2004. He is a Fellow and International Secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He serves on the Council at the Academy, and as a Trustee of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and Willamette University.
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 and a Governor of the University of the Arts London.
Diego Arteche
Diego Arteche was elected President of The Courtauld’s Student Union before graduating in the summer of 2022. Diego came to The Courtauld in 2019 as an undergraduate, and during his BA he specialised in how themes of gender, sexuality and the body intersect in post-Internet born-digital art and technology. Diego also engaged in studio-assistant work for trans and LGBTQIA+ artists, as well as in digital and intermedia performative actions. He graduated with honours in History of Art in July 2022.
Elected Governors
Three persons elected by and from the Academic Staff in accordance with regulations made by the Governing Board:
Professor Sussan Babaie
Sussan Babaie is Professor of the Arts of Iran and Islam at The Courtauld. She specialises on art and architectural history of Persianate West Asia, and on Isfahan and Safavid arts. Sussan is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles and has curated exhibitions with her students. Her current research explores taste at the intersection of visual and gustatory sense perception in Persian arts. She was the Head of Admissions at The Courtauld from 2014-2016 and is currently the Head of Graduate Diploma Programme.
Term expires November 2022
Dr Scott Nethersole
Dr Nethersole is Reader in Italian Renaissance Art, 1400-1500, at The Courtauld. He specialises in the art of Renaissance Florence and has written various books and articles on the subject, including Art and Violence in Early Renaissance Florence. His current research interests extend beyond Italy to consider Africa in the same period.
Term expires November 2023
Dr Austin Nevin
Dr. Austin Nevin is a Reader and Head of Conservation at the Courtauld which he joined in 2020. Following a degree in Chemistry (MChem), he trained as a Wall Painting Conservator at the Courtauld where he obtained a PhD in 2008. Prior to his appointment at The Courtauld he was a Senior Lecturer in Conservation at the University of Gothenburg, and Researcher at the Italian National Research Council, and Marie Curie Early Stage Research Fellow at the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (Greece). He is a Fellow and Vice President of the International Institute for the Conservation of Artistic and Historic Works.
Term expires November 2024
Two persons elected by and from staff other than the Academic Staff in accordance with regulations made by the Governing Board:
Anthony Tyrell
Anthony Tyrrell is Head of Estates & Facilities, having joined the staff of The Courtauld Institute of Art in January 2014, to take up the position of Facilities Manager. Prior to this, he occupied similar posts at both University College London (Archway Campus) and the Institute of Education. Anthony was elected to serve as a Staff Governor in December 2018. Anthony was Chair of the British Association of Cleaning in Higher Education from 2011 to 2017 and Chair of the Bloomsbury Safer Neighbourhood Panel from 2010 to 2014. Anthony holds a BSc (Hons) from Oxford Brookes University and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Building.
Term expires November 2022
Elizabeth Harris
Elizabeth Harris has been Academic Registrar at The Courtauld since February 2017, and as such she is responsible for delivering high quality administration in support of our academics and students.
Having worked within the higher education sector for more than 25 years, including at City University and SOAS, she has experience in strategic business planning, managing business change and organisational restructuring.
Elizabeth has always had an interest in history and the arts, and was fortunate to combine these interests in a business studies qualification at the outset of her career, working as a computer programmer at Sotheby’s.
One person elected from the staff of The Courtauld Gallery in accordance with regulations made by the Governing Board;
Dr Karen Serres
Dr Serres is Curator of Paintings for The Courtauld Gallery. She completed her MA (1999) and PhD (2004) at The Courtauld Institute of Art, on French and Italian Baroque painting, after training in art history and museum studies at the Ecole du Louvre (1997) and the Sorbonne (1998) in Paris. Before joining The Courtauld in 2012, she held an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and was then Robert H. Smith Research Curator in the Sculpture Department of that institution. In 2009, she became the Nina and Lee Griggs Associate Curator of European Art at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut.
Term expires November 2022
Secretary to the Governing Board
Sarah Robertson
Sarah has over 30 years’ experience as a listed company secretary and governance specialist and is currently Group Corporate Secretary for a listed international mining company. Sarah has also held similar roles in the oil and gas industry, software industry and financial services industries. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Governance Professionals and holds a Masters in Corporate Governance.