The Recognition Committee

Christopher Baker is an art historian, curator and author. He is the Editor of The Burlington Magazine (from January 2024) and an Hon. Professor at Edinburgh University. He served as a Director at the National Galleries of Scotland for ten years and has also worked in curatorial and research roles at Christ Church, Oxford, and the National Gallery in London. His research has focused on 18th and 19th-century British and European art, works on paper, portraiture and the history of collecting and display. He has curated numerous exhibitions across the U.K. and internationally.

Christopher is a member of the Advisory Board of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art, The Spoliation Advisory Panel, as well as being a Trustee of the Compton Verney Collection Settlement and the Paxton House Trust.

Allan Carswell is a freelance curator, researcher, and historian. Since 2005, he’s worked on a range of projects, both in the UK and overseas. Including special exhibitions, museum redevelopments, research projects, and the interpretation of various heritage sites.

Prior to this, Allan worked for over 20 years as a curator for the National Museums of Scotland (NMS), mainly based at the Scottish United Services Museum in Edinburgh Castle.  During his time with the NMS, Allan gained an excellent working knowledge of British military collections as well as an understanding of their intrinsic value and significance.

Allan has organised numerous exhibitions and published widely on many aspects of Scottish and British military history. During 1998-2000, he directed a major redevelopment of the entire museum at Edinburgh Castle and oversaw its successful reopening as the National War Museum of Scotland. In 2012, he contributed two chapters to the acclaimed ‘A Military History of Scotland’, published by the Edinburgh University Press.

Allan continues to contribute to the museum community in Scotland both as a trustee, committee member, and advisor to several organisations.

Ann Gunn is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of St Andrews, having taught postgraduate Museum and Gallery Studies for the past 20 years. Before that she had a career in museums, working with collections as curator, registrar, and honorary curator at Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery; The Art Museum, Princeton University, USA; and the University of St Andrews Museum collections.   She was a member of the validation panels for Museums Galleries Scotland’s Skills for the Future Internships and is a mentor and professional reviewer for the Museums Association AMA programme.

She has also run her own gallery specialising in contemporary Scottish art and was previously Chair of Fife Contemporary Art and Craft.  She’s published on 18^th– 20^th century British art, with a focus on printmaking, and is the author of The Prints of Paul Sandby (1731-1809): a Catalogue Raisonné, (2015) and The Prints of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: a complete catalogue, (2007). She was principal investigator for an RSE-funded project, Printmaking in Scotland in the 18^th century and continues to research and write in this area.

David Hopes is Head of Museums & Galleries for Leeds City Council. Previously he worked with the National Trust for Scotland for 12 years firstly as a curator, then Director of Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, and then as Head of Collections & Interiors in the policy team at Hermiston Quay, Edinburgh. He’s worked on some landmark projects as curator and manager including the Greater Pollok Kist (Open Museum, Glasgow City Council), the Distributed National Burns Collections Project (Scottish Museums Council), and two new museum projects (MUSA, Museum of the University of St Andrews, now the Wardlaw Museum; and Robert Burns Birthplace Museum). From 2011-14, he was a research fellow with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and the Shakespeare Institute (University of Birmingham) exploring how digital technology can be used to support learning with artefacts, the subject of his PhD.

David is Deputy Chair of Robert Burns Ellisland Trust and sits on the Editorial Board of the Burns Chronicle (Robert Burns World Federation and Edinburgh University Press). He’s also a member of the Museum Accreditation Committee managed by Arts Council England.

Susan Jeffrey has worked in the museum sector for more than 30 years, starting her career at the pioneering Springburn Community Museum in Glasgow in 1987.  She’s worked in five local authorities across Scotland and England, as a social history and art curator; and service manager for Renfrewshire Museums and East Dunbartonshire Museums Services.

In her current role as a Manager within Renfrewshire’s Heritage Service, Susan is responsible for Research and Collections. This includes both Paisley’s wide ranging museum collections – Art, Science, Social History, Natural History, World Cultures, Paisley’s Recognised Collection the Paisley Shawl Collection, and the historic archive collection held within Paisley’s Heritage Centre. Susan was also involved with the development of Paisley’s Secret Collection, the UK’s first publicly accessible, High Street museum store.

Eilidh Lawrence is Head of Museum and Photographic Collections at the University of St Andrews. She is responsible for the strategic development of these collections, for the curatorial teams who manage them and for the team who manage digital content. She is also the Co-Director of the MLitt in Museums, Heritage and Society. Eilidh has previously worked in engagement-focused roles including Learning and Engagement Manager at the University of St Andrews, and Learning and Engagement Officer at the Scottish Fisheries Museum. 

Eilidh is interested in developing active collections and ensuring they are relevant to audiences today. She is also interested in systems leadership, and how a systems leadership approach can help tackle complex challenges in museums.

Helen Rawson is Head of Heritage at York Minster.  She’s spent much of her career in the Scottish museum sector. Including 19 years as Co-Director at the University of St Andrews, and earlier as curator and senior curator, where she had a lead role in the Museum of the University of St Andrews. She’s also worked as a museum consultant, in research development, and at National Museums Scotland.

Throughout her career, she has gained extensive experience in collections care and management, exhibitions, strategy and policy development, fundraising, and capital projects, including museum and store developments. Her research interests, including her PhD, focus on the history and development of museum collections.

Fiona began her curatorial career at Tate Britain before leading and managing cultural regeneration schemes and public museum services in Cumbria, Greater London and southern England. Based in Scotland since 2000, she was a senior policy adviser in Scottish Government working on areas including culture, Gaelic, anti-poverty and community empowerment. From 2012-2024 she was Head of Culture and Community Services at Perth and Kinross Council, leading a £30 million cultural regeneration programme and the relocation of the Stone of Destiny to Perth.

Now a postgraduate researcher in the School of Arts and Cultures at Newcastle University, her work focuses on the role of local civic museums in democratic and civic participation. She has a Masters in modern Scottish writing from the University of Stirling and is a former Vice Chair of the National Library of Scotland and Member of Court, Abertay University.

Tamsin Russell works for the Museums Association and leads their workforce and professional development programmes across the UK.  She previously worked for National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, National Museums Scotland – all focusing on organisational development and change management; as well as being a past president of the Scottish Museums Federation. Her first role in the sector was as head of training and development for the Science Museum Group, bringing her experience from the private sector – a multi-site retailer.  She’s an Accreditation Museum Mentor, sits on the Scottish Heritage Angels short-listing panel and the UK wide Heritage Volunteering Group – Steering Committee.

Chanté is a leader in the UK’s cultural heritage sector, currently serving as Director of Heritage and Estates at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. With extensive experience working across Scotland’s national collections, she brings deep expertise in collection care, access, and strategic development. Chanté has been instrumental in major heritage initiatives, notably the redevelopment of the National Museums Collection Centre, and is experienced serving in senior governance roles with the Collections Trust and Museums Association, as well as advisory panels guiding cultural restitution efforts in both Scotland and Ireland. As Chair of the Recognition Committee, she champions inclusive, strategic leadership and is committed to enhancing the visibility, sustainability, and collective impact of Scotland’s nationally significant collections.

David Taylor is Curator of Pictures and Sculpture at the National Trust.  He’s responsible for the Trust’s art collection, which is housed in over 250 properties throughout England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.  He’ previously worked at the National Galleries of Scotland, the University of Glasgow, and Historic Environment Scotland.  David is a member of the Tate Collection Committee, a steering group member of the Understanding British Portraits subject specialist network, and an advisory council member of the Hamilton Kerr Institute (University of Cambridge).  David is also a fellow for both the Society of Antiquaries and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

David specialises in early modern Scottish and English portraiture and is currently working on a monograph on the production of portraits in 16th and 17th-century Scotland. Recent exhibitions that David has co-curated include ‘Stanley Spencer: Heaven in a Hell of War’ (Somerset House and Pallant House), ‘Rembrandt Revealed’ (Buckland Abbey), ‘Prized Possessions: Dutch Paintings from National Trust Houses’ (Holburne Museum, Mauritshuis and Petworth) and ‘British Baroque: Power and Illusion’ (Tate Britain).  David co-wrote and co-edited ‘Hardwick Hall: A Great Old Castle of Romance’ (Yale University Press), and has contributed to a number of publications, including ‘Queen Anne and British Culture, 1702-1714′ (Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies), ‘Aspiration, Representation and Memory: The Guise in Europe’ (Ashgate) and ‘Painting in Britain 1500-1630: Production, Influences and Patronage’ (Oxford University/British Academy).