Committee
The V&A Museum of Childhood is part of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and a charity exempt from registration under the Charities Act of 1993. The V&A operates at arm's length from the Government and is governed by a board of trustees. The V&A Museum of Childhood has a sub-committee which currently includes V&A Trustees and other co-opted members.
Professor Martin Roth
Director, V&A
Professor Martin Roth, born January 1955, graduated from Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen in the Faculty of Social and Cultural Science, and went on to achieve a Ph.D. on the political and historical background of German Museums and Exhibitions from 1871 to 1945.
Roth was curator at the German Historical Museum, Berlin (1989-91) and Director of the German Hygiene-Museum, Dresden (1991-2000) before being appointed Director General of the Dresden State Art Collections in 2001. Under Roth's management the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden underwent major renovation and modernisation.
Roth is widely published and has lectured at the University of Dresden, the School of Design in Karlsruhe and University of Karlsruhe. In 2007 he was awarded the French 'Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' and in 2010 with the Danish Order of Dannebrog.
Paul Ruddock
Chair of the V&A Board of Trustees
V&A
Appointed 3.5.02
Re-appointed 3.5.06
Paul Ruddock is Chief Executive of Lansdowne Partners Limited, an investment management firm he co-founded in 1998 and Chair of the Gilbert Trust for the Arts. Previous to this, he held various senior positions with Schroders PLC and its American subsidiary Schroder and Co. Inc., and prior to this, worked at Goldman Sachs.
He has an MA and BA (first class) in jurisprudence from Oxford University, is a member of the Development Board for The Access to Excellence Campaign of Mansfield College, Oxford, and is a Fellow of the College. He is also a trustee of the Burlington Magazine Foundation. He is interested in all aspects of the arts, with particular emphasis on medieval and renaissance sculpture.
Dr Samir Shah OBE
Chair of the V&A Museum of Childhood Committee
Member of the V&A Board of Trustees
V&A
Appointed 6.12.04
Re-appointed 6.12.08
Chair of the V&A Museum of Childhood Committee, Dr Samir Shah OBE, has been a leading figure in broadcasting for nearly twenty years. He was Head of Current Affairs at the BBC from 1987-1994 and Head of Political Programmes from 1994-1998. From 2004-2006 he was a trustee of the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture and from 1999-2009 Chair of the Runnymede Trust.
Dr Shah is a fellow of the Royal Television Society, and a non-executive Director of the BBC (2006-to date). The University of Nottingham has appointed him to a Special Professorship in the Department of Post-Conflict Studies. Since 1998 he has been Managing Director of Juniper Communications, which specialises in making factual programmes and drama documentaries.
Councillor Anna Lynch
London Borough of Tower Hamlets Elected Representative
Councillor Anna Lynch is Labour councillor for Weavers.
Visit the Tower Hamlets website for more information on Councillor Anna Lynch
Professor Laurence Brockliss
Laurence Brockliss is professor of Early Modern French History at the University of Oxford. He is the author of some 50 articles and books.
Lady Kate Gavron PhD
Kate Gavron PhD is chair of Carcanet Press and a director of George Piper Dances (Ballet Boyz). Previously she was a director of William Heinemann, Secker & Warburg and Virago Press, and a trustee of the Runnymede Trust and the Young Foundation, Bethnal Green. She is the co-author with Geoff Dench and Michael Young of The New East End (Profile, 2006).
Betty Jackson CBE
Member of the V&A Board of Trustees
V&A
Appointed 6.12.04
Re-appointed 6.12.08
Betty Jackson has been one of the country's leading clothes designers for over twenty years. During this time she has won numerous awards for her designs including 'Separates Designer of the Year', 'British Designer of the Year' and 'Contemporary Designer of the Year'. She was awarded the MBE in 1987 and CBE in 2007 for services to British Industry and Exports. Betty Jackson Ltd was launched in 1981. Betty Jackson is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art and a Fellow of Birmingham University.
Visit Betty Jackson's website
Deborah Jaffé
Deborah Jaffé studied art and design at Dartington College of Arts and the London College of Furniture before gaining her MA from the Royal College of Art. Her varied career has included work in the toy, educational and fashion industries, the visual arts, photography and research. Deborah is the author of eight books including What's Left of Henry VIII, Victoria: A Celebration, Ingenious Women and The History of Toys.
Visit Deborah Jaffé's website
Councillor Denise Jones
London Borough of Tower Hamlets Elected Representative
Elected as Councillor in 1994, Denise Jones served as Mayor of Tower Hamlets from 1999 to 2000. She is founder of Eastside Arts & Bookshop.
Visit the Tower Hamlets website for more information on Councillor Denise Jones
Dame Jacqueline Wilson
Jacqueline Wilson is one of the nation's favourite children's authors, perhaps most famous for the much-loved character Tracy Beaker, who first appeared in 1991 in The Story of Tracy Beaker, which won the 2002 Blue Peter People's Choice Award. Since then she has gone on to win many awards, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Award for The Illustrated Mum and the prestigious Smarties Medal for Double Act. In 2002 Jacqueline was awarded the OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she was the Children's Laureate. In 2008 she became Dame Jacqueline Wilson.
Visit Dame Jacqueline Wilson's website
