Diane Lees, currently the director of the V&A's Museum of Childhood, has been announced as the new director-general of the Imperial War Museum in London.
Lees will be the first woman to lead a major national museum in the UK and her appointment has been heralded as a breakthrough.
She will take over the running of the museum in October, when the current director Robert Crawford will be retiring.
Lees said she was delighted with the new role and was looking forward to taking up the post. "The Imperial War Museum is unique in that it touches on all of our history, focusing on everyone's story as it explores the history of modern war," she said.
Crawford started at the museum as a research assistant in 1968 and became director-general in 1995.
Sharon Heal
Lees will be the first woman to lead a major national museum in the UK and her appointment has been heralded as a breakthrough.
She will take over the running of the museum in October, when the current director Robert Crawford will be retiring.
Lees said she was delighted with the new role and was looking forward to taking up the post. "The Imperial War Museum is unique in that it touches on all of our history, focusing on everyone's story as it explores the history of modern war," she said.
Crawford started at the museum as a research assistant in 1968 and became director-general in 1995.
Sharon Heal