Charles Allen-Jones was a partner in Linklaters for 33 years, and was senior partner for five years until 2001. He is now a non-executive director of Caledonia Investments, and sits on the boards of Hongkong Land Holdings and Jardine Strategic Holdings and of the Committee of the Hong Kong Association. He is a past trustee of the British Museum and of Asia House, and a past member of the Financial Reporting Council and its Corporate Governance Committee. Other trusteeships: none.

Tony Brierley is a Solicitor, having originally qualified as a Barrister.  After 25 years in the international private equity business, he retired from 3i Group plc in 2007 where he had been General Counsel and Company Secretary and a member of the group's Executive Committee, with specific responsibility for the group's legal, compliance and internal audit functions world-wide.  He is a non-executive Director, City of London Group plc and of The Pensions Regulator, a trustee director of a FTSE100 company pension fund and a member of the Board of Governors of Nottingham Trent University. Other trusteeships: The Jordan Charitable Trust.

Ricky Burdett is Professor of Urban Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and director of LSE Cities and the Urban Age programme. His research interests focus on interactions between the physical and social worlds in the contemporary city and how urbanisation affects social and environmental sustainability. He is a Global Distinguished Professor at New York University and member of the Quality Review Panel for the London Legacy Development Corporation. Ricky Burdett has been involved in regeneration projects across Europe and was Chief Adviser on Architecture and Urbanism for the London 2012 Olympics and now advises the Olympic Legacy Park Company. He was architectural adviser to the Mayor of London from 2001 to 2006. He was a member of the Urban Task Force which produced a major report for the UK government on the future of English cities in 1999 entitled ‘Towards an Urban Rennaisance’. In addition, to leading interdisciplinary research and teaching activities, he is a regular contributor to journals, books and media programmes on contemporary architecture and urbanism. He is co-editor of two books based on the Urban Age research project: The Endless City (2007) and Living in the Endless City (2011). In November 2012 Professor Burdett was invited to serve as a member of the Independent Airports Commission for the UK government. Other trusteeships: none.

Sir Neil Cossons is the former Chairman of English Heritage, 2000 to 2007. From 1986 to 2000 he was Director of the Science Museum, London  and previously of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and the Ironbridge Museum Trust, Shropshire. He has been a Member of the Design Council, a non-executive director of British Waterways Board, and was Collier Professor in the Public Understanding of Science, University of Bristol, 2001–2. He was president of the Museums Association 1982-1983 and the Royal Geographical Society 2003–6 and is a trustee of the European Museum Forum and the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum. He has a number of honorary doctorates, is an Honorary Companian, Royal Aeronautical Society, an Honorary Fellow RIBA and was awarded the President's Medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1993. His interests include design and the history of engineering and industry. He been a member of Council of the RCA since 1989. Other trusteeships: none.

Sir James Dyson graduated from the RCA in 1971. He is a design engineer, founder and chariman of the technology company Dyson. Dyson currently spends £100m a year on research and development and employs over 4000 people, with research and development centres in the UK, Singapore and Malaysia. Dyson has over 1,900 patents and 1,000 registered designs worldwide. Dyson fans, hand dryers and vacuum cleaners are exported to over 60 countries. In 1997, he was awarded the Prince Phillip Designers Prize. He won the European Design Award in 1997. In 1998 he was awarded CBE for Design. He is an RDI and has received the Queen’s Award twice, for export and technology. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the New Year’s Honours December 2006. He set up the James Dyson Foundation in 2002 to encourage design and engineering education and run the international engineering award, the James Dyson Award. Other trusteeships: James Dyson Foundation.

David Good is Lecturer in the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology; a Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge and Education Director at the Cambridge-MIT Institute. David's research interests include the interpersonal and psychological processes underlying human communication, and the social consequences which follow. Recently, his focus has been on the study of information and communication technologies, and the use of ideas from human communication in the design of novel ICT. In late 2000, he established a group called Crucible with Dr A Blackwell dedicated to developing interdisciplinary work in technology design. Other trusteeships: none.

Eric Hagman is currently the non-executive Chairman of Matthew Algie Ltd and Espresso Warehouse Ltd, a member of the UK Advisory Board of AON Limited, a member of the UK Regional Advisory Board of UBS Wealth Management, a non-executive director of The Scottish American Investment Trust plc and treasurer of the Royal College of Art in London. He is also on the advisory forum of Caledonian University. He is a former director of British Polythene Industries plc, Celtic plc, Scottish Rugby Union plc, Scottish Enterprise, the Council of CBI Scotland and Scottish Financial Enterprise. He is also working in a non-executive capacity with a number of private companies. He received the CBE for contribution to economic development in Scotland in 2004. Other trusteeships: none.

Educated at Eton and Aix-en-Provence University. Rupert Hambro started work as an accountant, then joined the family firm, Hambros Bank. Rupert was Chairman of Hambros Bank from 1983 to1986 when, together with his father Jocelyn, and brothers Richard and James, he left the Bank and went on to found JO Hambro, a boutique investment firm. He now has own private equity business with stakes in a number of businesses. He is President of the British Association of Adoption and Fostering. He is Chairman of the Development and Strategy Board at the London Zoological Society. He is Chairman of The Trustees of The Silver Trust; Vice Patron of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. He is also a Board member of Open Europe and was Chairman of the Museum of London and Museum in Docklands from 1998–2005 and Treasurer of The National Art Collections Fund 1991–2003.  A board member of Bath University from 2000 until 2007 and now an Hon Fellow of the University. He is a member of the Court of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and was Prime Warden in 2009. Other trusteeships: Wallace Collection.

Betty Jackson has been one of the UK's leading clothes designers for over 20 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. In 1981 Betty launched Betty Jackson Ltd; prior to this she was chief designer at Quorum. Betty was awarded the MBE in 1987 and CBE in 2007 for services to British Industry and Exports. She is a trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum and received an honorary degree from Huddersfield University in 2011. Other trusteeships: none.

Sir Mark Jones is Master of St Cross College, Oxford (2011–present). Until June 2011 he was Director of Victoria & Albert Museum (2001–11). During his time at the V&A, 70 per cent of the museum was renewed and 2009–10 saw the opening of new Medieval and Renaissance and Ceramic galleries. Prior to the V&A, he was Director, National Museums of Scotland (1992–2001). He was Chairman of the National Museum Directors’ Conference 2006–9, is a trustee of the National Trust (2005–2012). He is Trustee of The Pilgrim Trust (2006–present), and Tullie House Museum and Gallery, Birmingham Museums, The Bishop Auckland Trust, SCRAN and the Grimsthorpe and Drummond Trust. He is also a member of the Oxford University Museums Board and the International Advisory Board of the Russian Museum in St Petersburg and a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Other trusteeships: none.

Joanna Kennedy has been a Director of Arup, a leading firm of international consultants in the built environment, since 1996. She is the firm’s Global Leader of Programme and Project Management practice.  By training as a civil engineer, she has wide experience of the leadership of a number of large and complex construction projects. Among her other appointments, she has been a member of the Engineering Council, a Trustee of the Science Museum, Chair of the Resource Audit Committee of the EPSRC, Vice Chairman, of the Port of London Authority. and a Commissioner of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. Joanna was awarded an OBE in 1995 for ‘services to consulting engineering’ and elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1997. She joined the Council of the Royal College of Art in 2001 and chairs the Buildings and Estates Committee. Other trusteeships: The Ove Arup Foundation; Cumberland Lodge.

Caragh was a senior audit partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers from 1990 to 2002 during which time she also fulfilled a number of practice leadership roles, including membership of the UK Assurance Board with specific responsibility for HR strategy development and implementation. On retiring from PWC, she worked with Chairmen and Chief Executives, principally in the public sector, to develop effective board leadership and corporate governance. She is an experienced non-executive director and audit committee chairman with a particular interest in the Arts and Higher Education sectors. Currently she is a director/trustee of UCAS, The Musicians’ Benevolent Fund and the Royal National Theatre Foundation. Other trusteeships: none.

Sir Peter trained as an electrical engineer.  He has had a distinguished career in high technology enterprises and his varied business activities include founding and chairing Classic FM. He was the founder of Micro Consultants' Group and UEI plc, and the driving force behind a group of high tech companies including Cosworth Engineering (specialises in high performance engines) and Quantel, the digital special effects company for television and film production, best known for ‘The Paintbox’. In 1983, Sir Peter and his wife Lady Michael launched the Peter Michael Winery in Northern California. Sir Peter is passionate about sculpture and has served as Vice Patron of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. He was also a member of the Advisory Committee for the Royal Mint. His personal project, the five-star Relais & Chateaux hotel ‘The Vineyard’, is a monument to his passion for fine food and wine, combined with his desire to promote the role of music, art and sculpture. Sir Peter is Chairman of Greenham Common Trust, which so far has generated £20 millioin for 500 local charities. Sir Peter is Chairman of the Pelican Cancer Foundation and founder of The Peter Michael Foundation, in California. In 1989 Sir Peter was knighted for his services to industry. Other trusteeships: none.

Sarah Miller was the Founding Editor and Editor in Chief of the British edition of Conde Nast Traveller (1997–2013), during which time she won the British Society of Magazine Editors' Editor of the Year award four times and the Periodical Publishers’ Association's Consumer Lifestyle Magazine award twice. She is now Editorial Consultant for Conde Nast China and also runs her own company Sarah Miller and Partners specialising in strategy and content for luxury, lifestyle, art/design and travel brands. She started her journalistic career at Cosmopolitan in 1982, simultaneously being part of the team that created the architecture and design magazine, Blueprint. She subsequently helped to launch British Elle in 1985, leaving to join the Look pages of the Sunday Times in 1987. She was appointed Editor of that section in 1988. This was followed by the Assistant Editorship of the Sunday Times magazine in 1990. She became Associate Features Editor of the Daily Telegraph in 1992, followed by Arts Editor, before moving, in 1995, to the Saturday Telegraph magazine. Other trusteeships: none.

Sir Keith O’Nions took up the post of rector of Imperial College London on 1 January 2010, after joining the College in July 2008 to set up and direct a new Institute for Security Science and Technology. Sir Keith holds an undergraduate degree in geology from the University of Nottingham and a PhD in earth sciences from the University of Alberta, Canada. After completing his PhD he took up a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Oslo before moving to the University of Oxford in 1971 as a demonstrator and then lecturer in geochemistry. He subsequently became professor of geology at Columbia University in 1975, Royal Society Research Professor at Cambridge in 1979 and head of earth sciences at Oxford in 1995. Sir Keith held the position of chief scientific adviser at MOD from January 2000 to July 2004 and director general, Science and Innovation, and chief scientific adviser at DTI. He has been the chairman or a member of a number of Research Council committees over the last 25 years, including a member of the Council of Science and Technology from 1998 to 2000, and was trustee and then chairman of the Natural History Museum from 1996 to 2005. He became a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 1979 and a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 1980. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (1983), Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (1998), Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (2001) and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2005). He was knighted for services to earth sciences in the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours. Other trusteeships: none.

Paul Priestman is a designer and co-founding director of leading multidisciplinary design consultancy Priestmangoode. Paul studied Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins and at the Royal College of Art. He was a member of the UK Design Council and Chair of the Design Sector Skills Panel from 2004–6. He was also President of the Design Business Association from 2001 to 2003, and a member of the D&AD Executive from 2005 to 2007. In 2010, Paul Priestman was selected to represent the UK’s creative industries on the Prime Minster’s Trade Delegation to China, flying the flag for British Design around the world. Paul is a leading voice in the design industry and experienced speaker on the subject of design and innovation. In 2012 the Evening Standard voted Paul Priestman as one of London’s 1,000 most influential people. Other trusteeships: none.

Dame Gail Rebuck has been Chairman and Chief Executive of Random House Publishers since 1991. She was been a Non Executive Director of BSkyB from 2002 to 2012. A trustee of the National Literary Trust, she also co-launched the World Book Day charity in 1998 and chairs the adult literacy campaign Quick Reads. Dame Gail was a Trustee of the Institute for Public Policy Research from 1993 to 2003 a Trustee of the Work Foundation from 2001 to 2008 and was for three years a member of the Government's Creative Industries Task Force. Dame Gail was awarded a CBE in the 2000 New Year's Honours List and was made a Dame in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List. Other trusteeships: none.

Jill Ritblat has a long association with the Tate Gallery, including involvement in acquisitions, international relations, events organisation and curating. She was executive producer of the film Normal Conservative Rebels: Gilbert & George in China (Edinburgh Film Festival, 1996; Gold Medal at Chicago Film Festival, 1996). She was on the Development Committee of the Royal Academy of Music from 2002 to 2010, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2011, a Turner Prize judge in 1988 and a RIBA Regional Award recipient for building commission in 2001. She has been trustee of the Tate Foundation since 2000, a board member of the British Architectural Trust Board (formerly RIBA Trust Board) from 2006 to 2012and a Wallace Collection International Council member since 2008. She has been a New Contemporaries Board member since 1991 and vice-chairman since 1992, as well as trustee of the Design Museum since 2010. Lady Ritblat has given a large collection of contemporary dress to the Victoria and Albert Museum, some of which was displayed at One Woman’s Wardrobe from 1998 to 1999. The catalogue won the 1999 Design and Art Direction Silver Award for Graphic Design. Other trusteeships: Garden Museum.

Martin Roth has been Head of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, since 1 September 2011. Born in 1955, he studied empirical cultural studies in Tübingen. After holding positions at Deutsches Historisches Institut in Paris, Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin and Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden, in 1996 he was appointed head of the Theme Park and worldwide projects for the Expo 2000 in Hanover. From 2001 to 2011 he was general director of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden. Since 1997 Martin Roth has been teaching at various educational institutions including Karlsruhe’s Academy for Design and Dresden’s Technical University, where he has been honorary professor since 2003. In addition, Martin Roth is a member of several cultural advisory boards and committees. Other trusteeships: The Gilbert Trust for the Arts; Stiftung Kunst & Musik für Dresden.

Marjorie Scardino is the former Chief Executive Officer of Pearson, a post she held since 1997. Pearson is an international education and media group headquartered in London whose businesses include The Financial Times Group, Penguin books, Pearson Education, and half of The Economist Group. Dame Marjorie was the first female Chief Executive among the UK's FTSE 100 companies. Before joining Pearson, she was Chief Executive of The Economist Group and, prior to that, was a lawyer. American born, Dame Marjorie has a Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco, and a Bachelor of Arts/Science from Baylor University. She is a member of the Board of Directors and Vice-chairman of Nokia Corporation. Dame Marjorie and her husband founded a weekly newspaper in Georgia and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for its editorial writing. She holds several not-for-profit positions, including as a Director of the Carter Center (USA), a Trustee of Oxfam and chairman of The MacArthur Foundation (USA) and is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Marjorie was made a Dame of the British Empire in 2002, Other trusteeships: none.

Yinka Shonibare studied at Byam Shaw School of Art, London from 1984 to 1989 and earned an MA from Goldsmiths College, London University in 1991. Known for using batik in costumed dioramas that explore race and colonialism, Yinka also employs painting, sculpture, photography, and film in work that disrupts and challenges our notions of cultural identity. In multimedia projects that reveal his passion for art history, literature, and philosophy, Shonibare provides a critical tour of Western civilization and its achievements and failures. Yinka was awarded an MBE in 2005; a fellowship at Goldsmith's College in 2003; and the Art for Architecture Award, Royal Society of Arts in 1998. Shonibare was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2004. His work has appeared in major exhibitions at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California, 2009; Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, 2005; Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia 2004; and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 2004, among others. He has participated in international events including Documenta, 2003; Spoleto Festival, Charleston, 2003; and the Venice Biennale 2001. Yinka was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the RCA in 2010. Other trusteeships: Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva).

John Studzinski is a senior managing director and global head of Blackstone Advisory Partners LP. John is based in both New York and London. Before joining Blackstone in 2006, John was a member of the Group Management Board and co-head of investment banking at HSBC London from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that he was at Morgan Stanley from 1980 to 2003, where he served as head of the European Investment Banking Division and deputy chairman of Morgan Stanley International. He is vice-chair and director of Human Rights Watch where he serves on the Executive Committee as well as chairman of the Investment Committee. He also serves as a Trustee of Bowdoin College, the Tate Foundation, The Passage Day Centre for the Homeless and the Royal Parks Foundation. In 2001 he established the Genesis Foundation, which supports and nurtures emerging composers, directors, writers and actors into sustained careers in the arts. John was made a Knight of the Order of St Gregory for his humanitarian work for the homeless. He was also made a Knight Commander of St Sylvester. He received the Prince of Wales Ambassador's Awards in recognition of his contribution to the homeless. In 2008, he was named in the Queen's New Year’s Honours List as a Commander of the British Empire for his services to the arts and to charity. Other trusteeships: none.

Cathy Turner has had a long career as a senior executive in banking most recently as the Chief Administrative Officer, Lloyds Banking Group plc and previously 14 years at Barclays PLC. At Barclays, Cathy, who was a member of the Executive Committee, held various positions during her career including Director of Human Resources and Investor Relations Director. Prior to Barclays, Cathy was in consultancy with Ernest & Young, Deloitte and Watson Wyatt in client facing roles. She is a Board Member of the IFS School of Finance and Vice-President of UNICEF. Other trusteeships: none.