Governance

The American Museum & Gardens is governed by Executive Chair, Gareth Thomas, and the Board of Trustees, who together with the Leadership Team, set the strategic direction.

Members of the Leadership Team

• Gareth Thomas – Executive Chair
• Matt Amos – Head of Estates
• Dick Beath – Head of Finance
• Jan English – Collections & Public Engagement Director, EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Champion
• Tracy Foster – Business & Development Director
• Kate Hebert – Chief Curator, EDI Champion
• Zoe Hughes-Gough – Fundraising and Development Manager
• Joy Hutchinson – Museum Co-Ordinator
• Damian Mitchell – Head Gardener
• Alice Xavier – Marketing and Communications Manager

News

We were saddened to hear the news that Virginia Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie, passed away on 17th August, aged 91. Ginny, as she was affectionately known, was a Trustee for the American Museum & Gardens from 1968 and Chair from 2001, before retiring from the board in 2006. She was subsequently appointed Chair Emeritus. We are very grateful for her incredible dedication and support for the Museum over so many years. She will be missed by all who knew her. Our condolences go to her family.

Members of the Board of Trustees

Gareth Thomas
Executive Chair 

Former Retail Director for John Lewis and ran the group’s department stores between 2000 and 2010. This was his final role in a 30-year career with the John Lewis Partnership. Since then he has held a number of Trusteeships in the not-for-profit sector, including Tate and Save the Children, and has worked as a Non-Executive Director on the board of a number of commercial companies, including the Co-op Group. Gareth was appointed Chair of the Board in 2019 and Executive Chair in 2022. He sits on the Museum’s Collections and Exhibitions Sub-Committee, the Audit, Finance and Enterprise Sub-Committee, and the People and Culture Sub-Committee. Gareth is married to Jessica. They live in Bath with their two young children, while Gareth also has three adult children.

Edward Bayntun-Coward
Deputy Chair

Edward was born near Bath in 1966, and was educated at Marlborough College and University College, Oxford, where he read Modern History. From 1989 until 1994 he worked for Maggs Bros. Ltd, the antiquarian bookdealers in Berkeley Square, London and assisted in the creation of Sir Paul Getty’s library at Wormsley. In 1994 he became partner in George Bayntun, the antiquarian bookdealers and bookbinders, established by his great-grandfather in Bath in 1894. He has been the sole owner since 2000. Edward is Chairman of Trustees of the Holburne Museum. He served as High Sheriff of Somerset from 2016–2017 and is currently a Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset. Edward serves as Deputy Chair and he also sits on the Museum’s Collections and Exhibitions Sub-Committee. He is married to Laura and has three children. 

Richard Bernays 

Mr. Bernays is a trustee he sits on the Museum’s Audit, Finance and Enterprise Sub-Committee. Prior to his retirement in 2001, he held various senior positions at Old Mutual, plc, a London-based international financial services company, and served as Chief Executive Officer of Old Mutual International. Prior to that, he was with Jupiter Asset Management in 1996, Hill Samuel Asset Management from 1991 to 1996, and Mercury Asset Management from 1971 to 1992. Mr. Bernays has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has wide experience both of managing institutional investments and in the running of financial services businesses. He has served on the board of the American Museum & Gardens since 2008. He received a Masters of Arts degree from Trinity College, Oxford.  

Alec Comba 

Alec was appointed a Trustee in 2022 and is Chair of the Museum’s Audit, Finance and Enterprise Sub-Committee. Alec is a Chartered Accountant and has lived in Bath with his family since 2006.  

After graduating from the University of Glasgow and a short spell with Procter and Gamble, his accountancy training was completed with EY. Following qualification, his entire working career was spent in the construction industry, initially internationally and latterly 22 years as the Group Finance Director of Vinci PLC, the holding company for the UK construction activities of VINCI of France. Since 2015 he has acted as a Non-Executive Director or Pension Trustee to various organisations. 

His interest in all things American stems from a work secondment in Pittsburgh and a number of years working with a VINCI subsidiary headquartered in Dallas. 

Recently, in Bath, he has been responsible for the financial management of the £20 million Footprint project at Bath Abbey. In his spare time, he likes to garden, play golf occasionally and struggle to learn some basic Italian. 

Elizabeth De Forest Scott 

Elizabeth DeForest Scott is the benefactor of the Elizabeth and Stanley D. Scott Foundation Inc. as well as a celebrated patron of the arts and antiquities. In New York, Elizabeth Scott holds membership or patronage with a prestigious roster of institutions, including the New York Historical Society, the Morgan Library and Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the New York Philharmonic.

Elizabeth has been a trustee or officer of a variety of non-profit organisations and foundations engaged in fine art, rare books, cultural exchanges, and charities. The American Museum and Gardens, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, English-Speaking Union, Friends of Canterbury Cathedral, and the American-Scottish Foundation are a few of them.

Professor David Galbreath
Champion for Safeguarding

David Galbreath is Professor of International Security and former Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Bath. Originally from the United States (Tennessee), David moved to the United Kingdom in 2000 to do a PhD in Politics at the University of Leeds, and worked at the University of Aberdeen before moving to the Bath and North East Somerset area in 2010. In addition to his academic work, he is cycling race organiser for Avid Racing and vice-chair of the Western Cyclocross League. David became a Trustee of the American Museum & Gardens in 2022. He also sits on the Museum’s People and Culture Sub-Committee.

Mark E Haranzo
Deputy Chair, USA 

Mark E. Haranzo is chair of Holland & Knight’s New York Private Wealth Services Group. Mr. Haranzo focuses his practice on domestic and international private client matters for affluent individuals and their families. His clients include entrepreneurs, corporate executives, family offices, real estate developers, business owners, investors and investment bankers, as well as artists, entertainers, writers, collectors and philanthropists. 

In addition, Mr. Haranzo counsels charitable organisations and advises individuals on philanthropic matters. He has more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of estate and gift planning for individuals and families, including matters with complex multigenerational or multijurisdictional issues. He advises corporate and individual fiduciaries and beneficiaries on all aspects of trust and estate administration. Mr. Haranzo is Deputy Chair (USA) and he also sits on the Museum’s Audit, Finance and Enterprise Sub-Committee.

Jacqueline Kingsley 

Jacqueline is a professional fundraiser and organisational development specialist, who has been working in the cultural sector for over 30 years. As a consultant, she has enjoyed supporting a wide range of charities across all art forms, providing strategic guidance and hands-on fundraising for significant (and small) capital, revenue, and project campaigns. 

Lady Catherine Manning 

Dr Catherine Manning read history at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and subsequently completed a doctorate at King’s College London in eighteenth-century economic history.  

Her career has included time teaching both in the United Kingdom and in India. She has also published five novels writing as Elizabeth Ironside. She is married to David, a former diplomat, whom she accompanied on postings to Warsaw, New Delhi, Paris, Moscow, Tel Aviv, Brussels and the United States. She now lives in London and is involved in a number of voluntary activities.  

Anne Millman
EDI Champion

Anne read English Literature at Newcastle University, before undertaking a postgraduate degree at Lincoln College, Oxford. In 1986 she co-founded the UK’s first consultancy specialising in working with the creative industries, McCann Matthews Millman. She has worked as a sole trader since 2007. A qualitative research practitioner, Anne’s strengths lie in evaluation, governance, policy development, primary and secondary research, and strategic planning. She works across heritage and the performing arts. Current clients include the evaluation of a £4.1 million transformation project at Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum (2022 – 2027), and the development of a strategic plan for the Association for Art History. Anne has served as a Trustee on many boards over the years, ranging in scale from Polka Theatre for Children to Sage Gateshead. She is currently a Trustee of The Oxford School of Drama and of the Wiltshire Music Centre (until 2023), and serves on the Independent Advisory Board, University College London (Faculty of Medical Sciences) Joint Global Trial Steering Committee. At the American Museum & Gardens, Anne is a trustee and an EDI Champion, and she is the Chair of the Museum’s People and Culture Sub-Committee.

Katie Pennington 

Katie has a degree in Geography and a Masters in Urban Regeneration and Development from the University of Manchester, and has worked within the heritage and culture sector for the last 15 years.  She is currently based in Leicester and works as a Senior Heritage Consultant at Haley Sharpe Design (HSD). Through her work, she has been involved in a wide variety of projects including operational and organisational development, audience development, feasibility studies, options appraisals, funding bids and consultation for public, private, and charitable organisations both in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Her experience means she has a good understanding of the funding environment for heritage projects and works collaboratively with organisations on the development and delivery of both strategic and capital projects. 

Lynne Sayer 

Lynne Sayer is a painter, who has exhibited in the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  She is Chairman Emeritus of the American Society in London, and a Trustee of the Kensington Olympia Festival of Music and the Arts.

Adrian Tinniswood OBE FSA 

Adrian Tinniswood OBE FSA is the author of eighteen books on social and architectural history, including Noble Ambitions: The Fall and Rise of the Post-War Country House; The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House Between the Wars, a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller; His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren, and The Verneys: a True Story of Love, War and Madness in Seventeenth-Century England, which was shortlisted for the BBC/Samuel Johnson Prize. He has worked with a number of heritage organisations, including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Trust, and is currently Senior Research Fellow in Cultural History at the University of Buckingham, where he runs a graduate programme in Country House Studies. Adrian is a trustee and is Chair of the Museum’s Collections and Exhibitions Sub-Committee. Adrian divides his time between Bath and County Mayo.