Paul Thompson (arts administrator)

Paul Warwick Thompson CBE FRSA (born 9 August 1959) is the current Chair of the British Council.[1] He was Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art from 2009 to 2024.[2]

Dr
Paul Thompson
Chair of the British Council
Assumed office
January 2024
Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art
In office
September 2009 – April 2024
Preceded bySir Christopher Frayling
Personal details
Born (1959-08-09) 9 August 1959 (age 65)
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Alma materUniversity of Bristol
University of East Anglia

Thompson was educated at Bryanston School, the University of Bristol (BA) and the University of East Anglia (MA, PhD).[3]

Thompson worked as a scriptwriter and researcher for the Design Council 1987–88. He then joined the Design Museum as curator of contemporary design and from 1993 to 2001 was its director.[3]

During 2001–09, Thompson was director of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City, USA. In 2009, he took up his post at the Royal College of Art.[4] He was a trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from 2009-2023,[5] and was on the board of visitors of the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford from 2013-2019.[6] He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Universities UK from 2020-2023.[7]

He is a member of the Wellcome Collection Programme Advisory Committee at the Wellcome Trust, London. He is an adjunct professor at Imperial College's Institute for Global Health Innovation. He co-directs the Helix Centre with Professor Lord Ara Darzi.[8] Since 2020 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees, Creative UK.[9]

He was awarded a CBE in the King’s Birthday Honours in 2024 for services to the Arts.[10]

References

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  1. ^ [1] Dr Paul Thompson appointed British Council Chair, 05 Sep 2023
  2. ^ "Dr Paul Thompson to step down as Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art in 2024".
  3. ^ a b Paul Warwick Thompson, Director Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Archived 2007-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, Smithsonian Institution, October 2001
  4. ^ "Dr Paul Thompson Becomes Rector of the Royal College of Art".
  5. ^ "Board of Trustees Minutes".
  6. ^ "Dr Paul Thompson's LinkedIn".
  7. ^ "Dr Paul Thompson's LinkedIn".
  8. ^ "The Helix team".
  9. ^ "Creative UK: Meet our CEO & board".
  10. ^ "Cabinet Office Transparency data: Birthday Honours List 2024 PM List".
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