Governance - American Museum & Gardens

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
Tracy Foster – Business & Development Director
Kate Hebert – Chief Curator
Zoe Hughes-Gough – Fundraising and Development Manager
Damian Mitchell – Head Gardener

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. Was appointed Chair of the Board in 2019 and Executive Chair in 2022. 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

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. He 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. He is married to Laura and has three children.

Richard Bernays

Prior to his retirement in 2001, Mr. Bernays 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 and 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 Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee. He 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

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 and Gardens in 2022.

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.

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

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.

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 divides his time between Bath and County Mayo.