(Science Museum Press Release, 5th January 2000)
>Sir Peter Williams, Chairman of the Trustees of the National Museum of
>Science & Industry, announced today that Dr Lindsay Sharp, President and
>Chief Executive of the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada, has been appointed as
>the next Director of the Science Museum, after an extensive national and
>international search. He will succeed Sir Neil Cossons, who retires in
>June 2000.
>
>British born, Dr Sharp (52) brings a proven record as a museum director,
>manager and administrator, stemming from an early career as a research
>scholar and curator. Dr Sharp has been President of the Royal Ontario
>Museum for the past three years, leading a programme of reorganisation and
>master planning that will frame the next decade of development for Canada's
>only museum with international research programmes and curatorial scope.
>Between 1978 and 1988 Lindsay Sharp was the founding Director of the
>Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia. The Museum's primary mission is to
>explore Australia's technical, social and intellectual development.
>
>Lindsay Sharp succeeds Sir Neil Cossons, who has been Director of the
>Science Museum for fourteen years, directing a major programme of renewal
>and development. Sir Neil retires on 30 June 2000 and it is anticipated
>that Dr Sharp will commence his tenure on 1 July. In announcing the
>appointment, Sir Peter Williams said "Lindsay Sharp will bring to the
>National Museum of Science & Industry the key leadership and managerial
>skills that we need in order to take this great institution forward into
>the new century. His extensive international experience will enable the
>Museum to build on the recent programme of capital developments - and
>especially the new stlg50 million Wellcome Wing, opening in June next year -
>enabling the Museum to fulfil its potential as a leading influence in the
>public understanding of science and technology".
>
>Lindsay Sharp earned his D Phil in the History of Science at Queen's
>College, Oxford where he was the Clifford Norton Research Fellow in the
>History of Science. Between 1976 and 1978 he was Assistant Keeper,
>Pictorial Collection, Science Museum, London before taking up a position at
>the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (now Powerhouse Museum) in Sydney,
>Australia. He has also worked as a consultant to numerous museums in
>Australasia and North America.
>
>Dr Sharp said of his appointment: "I am tremendously honoured to be
>appointed to lead the world's pre-eminent museum of science and industry.
>Having started my career at the Science Museum I feel extremely warmly
>towards the Museum and a sense of the circle closing, of returning home.
>With the United Kingdom's resurgent economy and the British Government's
>focus on education this could not be a better time to build on Neil
>Cossons' achievements and help lead the museum to success in the next
>Millennium".
>
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