OCL Faculty

The OCL Faculty have been carefully curated to include senior cultural sector leaders and commentators, business school experts and industry authorities. 

OCL Faculty

Dr Silke Ackermann, Director, Museum of the History of Science

Dr Silke Ackermann is Director of the Museum of the History of Science, the first ever female director of a university museum in Oxford since the founding in 1683. Silke is a medievalist and orientalist by training with a particular interest in the transfer of knowledge between the Islamic World and Europe. She worked for 16 years in different roles at the British Museum before taking up a professorship at the University of Applied Sciences in Schwerin (Germany) where she was later appointed president. In March 2014 she returned to the UK to take up her present position in Oxford. Silke takes a particular interest in leadership in the cultural sector and acts as coach and mentor to colleagues in the UK and other parts of Europe.

Tracey Camilleri, Associate Fellow, Saïd Business School

Tracey Camilleri is an Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School and Director of the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme. At the business school, she specialises in learning design and pedagogic innovation. She also designs and directs customised leadership programmes for clients. Her programmes draw widely from across the University faculty, particularly from the arts and humanities departments where she believes the great case studies of leadership reside. She has worked for several years with The Ashmolean developing leadership sessions using objects from their collection.

Dr Oliver Cox, Heritage Engagement Fellow, TORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities

Dr Oliver Cox founded the Thames Valley Country House Partnership, a partnership linking entrepreneurial ideas in the heritage sector with researchers at the University of Oxford. He coordinates a range of collaborative projects with the UK and international heritage sector, co-supervises the flagship Trusted Source Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the National Trust, and is responsible for developing long term strategic partnerships for the University of Oxford. Oliver is a historian by training, and has published widely on Gothic Revival architecture, landscape gardening, patriotism, and the country house. He is a member of the Faculty of History (University of Oxford); Senior Scholar at University College, Oxford; Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; a Council Member of the Oxfordshire Records Society; Governor of Compton Verney House Trust; and sits on the Education and Publications Committee of The Gardens Trust and Arts Council England’s Designation Panel.

Rachel Davies, Director of Operations, Ashmolean Museum

Beginning her career as a chartered accountant, Rachel Davies worked in the private sector for 10 years, working for organisations such as The Observer Newspaper and Walt Disney, before turning to the arts. An MA in Museum and Gallery Management led to a role in the Tate Modern Project Team, where she was responsible for the financial aspects of transforming the disused power station into the cultural icon it is today, and later the Senior Management Team. Following a move to the Midlands, Rachel joined Compton Verney when it was also a building project, and helped this new and independent organisation to build an audience and create an operating model that was self-supporting and sustainable. Rachel was responsible for the delivery of the initial capital project, the development of the Business Plan including managing 50% cuts to core income, setting up retail, outsourcing catering and establishing and growing a hire business. Since then she has also overseen the delivery of an HLF funded capital project to transform the Capability Brown grounds, the development of a site masterplan, an endowment management review, and staff structure review. Rachel moved on from this role to become Director of Operations at the Ashmolean Museum, and is currently responsible for building an integrated and cost effective approach to managing, maintaining and developing Museum operations to deliver an excellent and inclusive visitor experience and create a good working environment for staff and volunteers. 

Richard Evans, Director, Beamish, the Living Museum of the North

Richard has been the Director of Beamish since 2008. He leads a team of more than 360 staff, supported by 450 volunteers as well as more than 2,000 Friends and business partners. Over the past six years visitor numbers have nearly doubled, turnover has increased to £9m and Beamish has created more than 180 jobs and apprenticeships from engineers to curatorial trainees. Beamish is now self-sufficient in revenue terms and it is the most visited visitor attraction in the North East region. Beamish also leads a consortium with The Bowes Museum and is one of 16 Major Partner Museums supported by Arts Council England. Richard is a member of the National Museum Directors Council and is on the Boards of the North East Cultural Partnership and Visit County Durham. Prior to joining Beamish Richard was Director of Wentworth Castle Trust where he led the Civic Trust award-winning phase one restoration costing £17 million, with support from the HLF. From 1999 to 2003 he was Development Officer at New Lanark, during the period that Robert Owen’s utopian village was awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Kaywin Feldman, Director and President, Minneapolis Institute of Art

Kaywin has been Director and President of the Minneapolis Institute of Art since 2008. She oversees the museum's 250 staff, its fine art collection of over 89,000 objects, its 473,000-square-foot facility, and an annual operating budget for $32 million. She serves on the boards of National Arts Strategies, the Chipstone Foundation, and the American Alliance of Museums, and is a member of the Bizot Group. Kaywin is a past president of the Association of Art Museum Directors and a past chair of the American Alliance of Museums. She has strengthened Mia's national presence with ambitious special exhibitions, including More Real?: Art in the Age of Truthiness; Rembrandt in America; and China’s Terracotta Warriors. She led the creation of a contemporary art department, the reinstallation and reconception of the museum’s African art galleries, and the launch of inventive programming such as Mia’s Birthday Year. Kaywin has championed the strategic and effective use of digital technologies to support and enhance audience engagement. As a result the Mia team has established a reputation for being on the leading edge of digital technology in the museum sector. Recent projects include the relaunch of the museum website, the ambitious ArtStories project, and the launch of the prestigious 3M Art and Technology Prize. Kaywin previously served as director of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Tennessee, from 1999-2007, and received an Honourary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Memphis College of Art in 2008. In 2018 Kaywin was named as the next director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, a post that she will take up in March 2019.

Dr Pegram Harrison, Senior Fellow in Entrepreneurship, Saïd Business School

Dr Pegram Harrison is Senior Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Pegram's research and teaching concern entrepreneurship and leadership particularly in cultural contexts. He teaches entrepreneurship, leadership, strategy and heritage management to executives and Diploma students, as well as on the MBA and undergraduate programmes. Pegram runs Oxford Saïd’s programme of teaching and research called “Engaging with the Humanities”. He helped to start the Oxford Cultural Heritage Programme, and is a member of the University's Thames Valley Country House Partnership Project.  He also coordinates a joint research programme with the University of Bologna on management and the humanities. These initiatives link researchers with cultural institutions, policy leaders, development agencies, digital technology providers and civic officials. Beyond Oxford, Pegram works with various cultural organisations on research into new business models for enhancing museum engagement.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England

(Image Credit: Sunderland Echo)

Darren previously spent 25 years working in radio, leading Classic FM for fifteen years, first as Managing Editor and then as Managing Director. He was appointed an OBE in 2013 for services to music.Darren has chaired or sat on a range of government advisory boards in the area of cultural education. His two independent government reviews into music education (2011) and cultural education (2012) resulted in the creation of England's first National Plan for Music Education, new networks or Music Education Hubs and Heritage Schools, and Museums and Schools programme, the BFI Film Academy and the National Youth Dance Company. He is the author or co-author of thirty books, including 'The Virtuous Circle: Why Creativity and Cultural Education Count'. It argues that an excellent cultural education is the right of everyone, bringing personal, social and commercial advantages that can only benefit the lives of all individuals in our society. In 2016,  Darren's most recent book was published. 'The Arts Divided: Why Investment in Culture Pays' looks in depth at seven key benefits that art and culture bring to our lives. Darren joined the Arts Council in 2015.

Diane Lees, Director General, Imperial War Museums

Diane Lees CBE is the Director-General of Imperial War Museums, the cultural lead for the Centenary of the First World War, and is a Trustee of 14-18NOW, the Centenary’s Cultural Programme. Diane is a Trustee of the IWM Development Trust and The Gerry Holdsworth Special Forces Trust. She serves as Vice President of the American Air Museum in Britain, she is a member of the Women Leaders in Museums Network (WLMN) and of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s Experts’ Reference Group. In 2016, Diane chaired a review of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)’s Museums, Galleries and Collections Fund.
From April 2013 to March 2017, Diane chaired the National Museum Directors’ Council (NMDC). In December 2014, Diane was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for services to museums, and in July 2015, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree by the University of Reading. In June 2017 she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts by Nottingham Trent University. In April 2018 she was appointed Chair to the University of Lincoln’s Board of Governors. 

Catherine Mallyon, Executive Director, Royal Shakespeare Company

Catherine Mallyon was appointed as Executive Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012. She is a Governor of the Company and a member of its Board.
Catherine was previously Deputy Chief Executive of Southbank Centre, the largest single-run arts centre in the world. Since 2005 she led all Southbank Centre operational activity and her major projects in that time included reopening Royal Festival Hall after refurbishment in 2007 and the renewal of Hayward Gallery in 2010.In her earlier career in arts management, Catherine was General Manager of Arts and Theatres at Reading Borough Council. There she managed all theatre and arts operations, programmed drama and classical music for the Hexagon and Concert Hall, and co-produced the WOMAD festival. Prior to that, she was General Manager at Oxford Playhouse, including the Burton Taylor Studio Theatre. Catherine trained in general arts administration on Arts Council England's bursary programme, after five years in the City as a trader and analyst. She plays violin regularly with the Oxford Sinfonia.

Richard Ovenden, Bodley's Librarian

Richard Ovenden is Bodley's Librarian, the senior executive position of the Bodleian Libraries. Richard has served on the staff of Durham University Library, the House of Lords Library, the National Library of Scotland, the University of Edinburgh, and since 2003 at the Bodleian Libraries (first as Keeper of Special Collections, from 2011-2014 as Deputy Librarian, the Bodleian Libraries, then from 2014 as Bodley’s Librarian). Richard sits on the Board of Research Libraries UK and of the Consortium of European Research Libraries, where he is Treasurer, and is currently President of the Digital Preservation Coalition. He has published widely on the history of collecting, the history of photography and on professional concerns of the library, archive, and information world, and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2015. Recently Richard headed Oxford’s involvement with the Google mass digitization project. He holds a Professorial Fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford.

Robert Poynton, Associate Fellow, Saïd Business School

Robert Poynton designs, facilitates and runs workshops, programmes and retreats for executives and leaders. He has developed an approach based on improvisational theatre to give executives an experience of key ideas and themes in leadership such as complexity, emergence, change and narrative. He co-founded On Your Feet, a US based consultancy that uses ideas, tools, methods and knowledge from improv to work with clients like Intel, Nike, Disney and GE. He also collaborates extensively with brand consultancy eatbigfish in London. He is an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford and at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, where he has been a contributor to the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme since 2002. He has written two books entitled Everything’s an Offer and Do Improvise and is currently working on a new book (with Steven D’Souza and Diana Renner) entitled ‘Not Doing’. His work includes the design and creation of individual and group executive retreats to Spain, where he lives. He has also led courses on leadership, change and complexity at IE in Madrid, Ashridge Business School and Schumacher College.

Dr Keith Ruddle, Associate Fellow, Saïd Business School

Keith teaches, advises and works with top management teams from private and public sector organisations on the leadership of strategic and organisation change. Based at the University of Oxford since 1994 he has taught on many of the flagship top leadership courses including the Advanced Management and Leadership Programme, the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme, and Consulting and Coaching for Change, as well as on many of the custom company courses. Keith's research interests include leadership of transformational change, strategic renewal, large-scale change, collaborative and complex change, and public service reform. He has taken a particular interest in recent years in working with politicians, central and local government on change and reform. This included a secondment to the UK Cabinet Office looking at leadership in the public sector. Keith has an MA from Cambridge University, an MBA from Harvard Business School and a DPhil in Management Studies from Oxford University. In his early career he ran the strategy practice at a major international consultancy. 

Lucy Shaw, Programme Director, Oxford Cultural Leaders & Head of Partnerships and Programmes at Oxford University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums

Lucy plays a key leadership role within Oxford University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums Division, overseeing cross-divisional programmes and activities related to outreach, pubic engagement with research, community engagement and partnerships. In 2015 she launched Oxford Cultural Leaders, an international executive leadership programme for museums, heritage and the arts, in partnership with the Saïd Business School. The programme has led to new research with the UK’s National Museum Directors’ Council exploring the changing expectations of museum leadership. Lucy has over 20 years' experience of the museum sector, she started her career as a social history curator in the East Midlands before moving to working at a strategic level with national and regional agencies, professional bodies, and course providers. Before joining the University of Oxford she was running a successful business as a consultant developing, leading and managing projects and programmes that focused on strategic development, organisational change and workforce diversity. 

Dr Michael Smets, Associate Professor, Saïd Business School

Michael’s research focuses on leadership and the management of competing stakeholder demands in complex, ‘hybrid’ organisations. He is a lead author of the CEO Report, which was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in 2015 and is the lead author of the Museum Leaders Report which was launched in 2018. Previously he conducted a widely-noted “fly on the wall” study of Lloyd’s of London, one of the UK’s oldest financial institutions. At Saïd Business School, Michael teaches modules on leadership, motivation, teams, change and institutional complexity on customised executive education programmes for clients from banking, law, consulting, and accounting.. Michael is currently on the “40 under 40” list, recognizing the 40 best business school professors under the age of 40 worldwide. His research has appeared in leading management journals and publications, and has been covered by the Financial Times, Forbes, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC, the Guardian and other international media.

Professor Paul Smith, Director, Museum of Natural History

Professor Paul Smith has worked in museums for over 25 years, an interest sparked during a research post at the Sedgwick Museum, University of Cambridge. This led to a post at the national Geological Museum in Copenhagen and then to the Lapworth Museum of Geology at the University of Birmingham, where he spent much of his career as curator and then director.  After a period as head of the multidisciplinary School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences in Birmingham, Paul moved to the University of Oxford in February 2012 to take up the directorship of the Museum of Natural History there.  His research interests range from geology into zoology, particularly the origin of animal groups and the geology of arctic areas, and in the museums arena has a particular interest in the use of digital technologies and public engagement in science.

Kathleen Soriano, Curator

Kathleen Soriano began her career at the Royal Academy of Arts before moving to the National Portrait Gallery, where as Director of Exhibitions & Collections she was also responsible for national and international programmes. In 2004 she became one of the first cohort of Clore Leadership Fellows, working at the South Bank Centre and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. She then worked as Director of Compton Verneybefore returning to the Royal Academy to take on the role of Artistic Director.  In 2014 she set up her own artistic advisory and strategic consultancy company.  She has lectured and written, and broadcasted extensively in her field, including presenting the four series of Portrait/Landscape Artist of the Year for SkyArts. She is currently Chair of the Liverpool Biennial, Artistic Director of the Jakober Foundation, Mallorca, and a specialist advisor for the National Trust. Previously she has held roles on the strategic committee of the Grand Palais, Paris, the Wellcome Collection exhibition advisory group, chaired the Churches Conservation Trust’s Art Advisory group, was a founder member of Women Leaders in Museums Network and is currently on the Advisory Board of 2 Temple Place and the editorial board of Apollo. 

Carole Souter, Master, St Cross College University of Oxford 

Carole Souter CBE took up office as Master of St Cross College in September 2016. She was previously Chief Executive of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund, overseeing the distribution of over £400m a year to projects making a lasting difference to people and heritage across the UK. She began her career in the civil service and has over 20 years’ experience of policy formulation and operational management in the Departments of Health, Social Security and the Cabinet Office. She has always been actively engaged in the charitable sector and is currently a Trustee of Historic Royal Palaces; Creativity, Culture and Education; the Kent Wildlife Trust and the National Communities Resource Centre. She has recently been installed as a Lay Canon of Salisbury Cathedral. Carole is a Fellow of the RSA, the Society of Antiquaries, and a member of the Academy of Urbanism. She is an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and was awarded the CBE in 2011 for services to conservation. 

Dr Alexander Sturgis, Director, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford

In October 2014 Dr Alexander Sturgis became Director of the Ashmolean Museum having had a distinguished career as the Director of the Holburne Museum, Bath, since 2005. Whilst at the Holburne Dr Sturgis oversaw a renovation of the Museum that included a £13 million extension. Prior to becoming the Director of the Holburne Museum Dr Sturgis worked at the National Gallery, London, for 15 years, in various posts including Exhibitions and Programmes Curator from 1999-2005. Dr Sturgis is an alumnus of University College, Oxford and the Courthauld Institute of Art, London.

Professor Anne Trefethen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Gardens, Libraries and Museums, University of Oxford

Professor Anne Trefethen is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for People and the Gardens, Libraries and Museums, University of Oxford. She was previously the Chief Information Officer and a Professor of Scientific Computing at the University of Oxford, and is a former director of the Oxford e-Research Centre. Anne has worked for almost 20 years in industry and academia with a focus on numerical algorithms and software, computational science and high-performance computing and in recent years more broadly on digitally enabled research. Before joining Oxford, Anne was Director of the UK e-Science Core Programme, having been the Deputy Director for four years. In her industry roles Anne has led the design and development of software products as Thinking Machines Coorporation in the USA and NAG Ltd in the UK. In academia she was a researcher in parallel computing at the Cornell Theory Centre, where she later became the Associate Director for Computational Support and Software and developed on-line educational courses and technology.

Dr Laura Van Broekhoven, Director, Pitt Rivers Museum

Laura is the Director of the Pitt Rivers Museum. She holds a Professorial Fellowship at Linacre College, and is associated with the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography at Oxford. Previously she led the curatorial department of the National Museum of World Cultures (Amsterdam, Leiden and Berg en Dal) and was a lecturer in archaeology, museum studies and indigenous heritage at the Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University. She currently serves on numerous advisory boards and panels. Laura's current research interests include repatriation and redress, with a focus on the importance of collaboration, inclusivity and reflexive inquiry. Her regional academic research has focused on collaborative collection research with Amazonian (Surinam and Brazil) indigenous peoples, Yokot’an (Maya) oral history, Mixtec indigenous market systems, and Nicaraguan indigenous resistance in colonial times.

Yolanda Vazquez, Presenter/Coach, Olivier Mythodrama

Yolanda is a graduate of The Drama Centre London, she is an Actor, Director and Theatre Practitioner. Her theatre background includes the RSCS and The Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. In 2003 Yolanda joined as a freelance Globe Education Practitioner and has been heavily involved with the development of the Globe Education portfolio both nationally and internationally. In 2006 she developed and led a national training programme for all 260 English consultants for the secondary national strategies on behalf of the DFES (DFE). She is responsible for developing resources and publications for QCDA, Hodder Dynamic Learning and Arden Shakespeare, and still works at many high calibre drama schools. In the last three years she has trained and become an affiliate of Olivier Mythodrama working as a presenter and tutor/coach with companies such as Daimler, Oxford Said Business School, Axa, Avon, IESE and many other.