The Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum is the head of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a post currently held by Tristram Hunt, who succeeded Martin Roth, who died in August 2017, months after he announced he would resign in January. The postholder is responsible for that institution's general administration and reports its accounts to the British Government.
The actual governance of the Museum, however, is delegated to its board of trustees; these are appointed individually by the British Prime Minister.[1] The National Heritage Act 1983, which established the Museum's board of trustees, provides the prime minister's power to appoint the members and the chair of the board of trustees, and provides for the Director to be appointed by this board, with the approval of the prime minister.[2] [3]
| Portrait | Director | Served | Post held | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Henry Cole (1808–1882) | 1852–1873 | Organised and conducted the two museums from which the Victoria and Albert Museum grew: the Museum of Oriental Art and the South Kensington Museum | ||
| Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, (1828–1894) | 1874–1893 | Director of the South Kensington Museum | ||
| John Henry Middleton (1846–1896) | 1893–1896 | Director of the Art Museum (Division of the Victoria and Albert Museum) | ||
| Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke (1846–1911) | 1896–1905 | Director of the Art Museum (Division of the Victoria and Albert Museum) | ||
| Arthur Banks Skinner (1861–1911) | 1905–1908 | Director of the Art Museum (Division of the Victoria and Albert Museum) | ||
| Sir Cecil Harcourt Smith, (1859–1944) | 1909–1924 | Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Sir Eric MacLagan (1879–1951) | 1924–1945 | Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Sir Leigh Ashton (1897–1983) | 1945–1955 | Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Sir Trenchard Cox (1905–1995) | 1956–1966 | Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Sir John Pope-Hennessy (1913–1994) | 1967–1973 | Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Sir Roy Strong (born 1935) | 1973–1987 | Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll (born 1938) | 1987–1995 | Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Alan Borg (born 1942) | 1995–2001 | Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Sir Mark Jones (born 1951) | 2001–2011 | Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Martin Roth (1955–2017) | 2011–2016 | Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum | ||
| Tristram Hunt (born 1974) | 2017–current | Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum |