The National Galleries of Scotland is governed by a Board of Trustees. There are up to 12 trustees on the Board at any one time and they are appointed by Scottish Ministers through an open appointments system.
Trustees are appointed for a four year term of office in the first instance and may be offered a second term.
People
Sir Brian Ivory, Chairman
Brian Ivory was appointed Chairman of the National Galleries of Scotland in June 2000. He is also Chairman and Co-Founder of the National Piping Centre, Chairman of the Scottish American Investment Company plc, and a Director of HBOS plc, Clerical Medical and Remy Cointreau SA of France. He was formerly Executive Chairman of Highland Distillers plc and a Member of the Arts Council of Great Britain.
Ian Barr
Ian Barr was appointed to the Board in February 2005. A practising artist with a degree in Visual Arts from Glasgow School of Art, he currently works as an Education and Cultural Policy consultant. He has been a consultant for the EU Comenius Project, the Department for International Development and Liverpool’s successful bid to be City of European Culture 2006. He has also been the Chair of the Independent Television Commission Education Advisory Committee and was a Member of the Advisory Committee for the Campaign for Drawing. His wide-ranging experience also includes a spell as a Specialist Advisor for UNESCO.
Richard Burns
Richard Burns was appointed to the Board in February 2007. He was until last year joint senior partner of Baillie Gifford, Scotland’s leading independent investment manager. Since 1999 he has been Governor of Donaldson’s College, the school for children with hearing, speech and language difficulties and has been a member of the Court of the University of Dundee since August 2006.
Herbert Coutts MBE
Herbert Coutts MBE was appointed to the Board in August 2007. He has served in senior local government cultural posts for more than forty years. His achievements in the field of the arts included the establishment of Edinburgh’s Cultural Partnership (following the publication of the city’s first Cultural Policy), the renovation of the Usher Hall, the development of Makar’s Court (Scotland’s Poets’ Corner), and persuading the City Council to support the bid to achieve UNESCO City of Literature status for Edinburgh.
James Dawnay
James Dawnay was appointed to the Board in September 2003. He is a former Director of Gurr Johns, London’s oldest established fine art consultancy, and holds Chairmanships and Directorships with various trusts in the fields of arts and architecture, museums and finance. He is also Chairman of a number of investment companies, including CCLA Investment Management.
Marc Ellington
Marc Ellington, an independent communications, marketing and tourism consultant, joined the Board in October 2002. He is a former Member of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for Scotland and served as a Member of the Historic Buildings Council for eighteen years until 1998. In addition, he served as a Board Member of Grampian Enterprise Ltd and was a Scottish Representative of the British Tourist Association Heritage Committee. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Historic Scotland.
James Knox
James Knox was appointed to the Board in February 2007. He is managing director of The Art Newspaper, the leading international publication on the art world with offices in London and New York. Prior to this appointment, he ran his own consultancy advising institutional and private patrons on the commissioning of contemporary art.
Ray Macfarlane
Ray Macfarlane was apponted to the Board in March 2007. She is a Senior Director of the Bank of Scotland Corporate. Before joining the Bank, Ray was the Managing Director of Scottish Enterprise. She is a qualified solicitor and began her career in private practice after graduating from the University of Glasgow. She is Deputy Chair of the Scottish Arts Council/Scottish Screen Board, Honorary Vice Chair of BAFTA Scotland and a Non Executive Director of the Scottish Institute of Sport.
Alasdair Morton
Alasdair Morton was appointed to the Board in March 2007. He is a Chartered Accountant and currently works as Head of Strategic Planning for Retail Financial Crime within the Retail Markets at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Prior to this he worked for KPMG Forensic and was responsible for leading and working in a variety of teams. He also chairs the UK Security Committee for MasterCard as well as being a member of their European Security Advisory Committee. He holds no other ministerial appointments.
Professor Richard Thomson
Richard Thomson joined the Board of Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland in October 2002. He is Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art at the University of Edinburgh, and was also responsible for setting up the Visual Arts Research Institute in Edinburgh. Before that, he taught at the University of Manchester where he was also a Member of the Board of the Cornerhouse, the Manchester contemporary art and cinema complex.
Dr Ruth Wishart
Dr Ruth Wishart, a freelance journalist and broadcaster, joined the Board of Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland in October 2002. She has been the Chair of the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow, Council Member of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, a Governor of the Glasgow School of Art, Member of the Scottish Advisory Committee of the British Council, and Chair of Glasgow Common Purpose. Currently she chairs the Dewar Arts Awards and the Board of Theatre Cryptic.