The deputy director and chief operating officer of the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), Tim Reeve, was among a number of museum, arts and heritage professionals to be recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours.
Reeve, who led on the development of the new V&A East Storehouse in east London, received a CBE for services to museums.
Other recipients from the sector included Alison Myners, the former chair of the Royal Academy, who was awarded a CBE for services to the arts. Alex Farquharson, the director of Tate Britain, was awarded an OBE for services to art, while James Korner, vice president of London’s Foundling Museum, received an OBE for services to philanthropy and charity.
OBEs also went to Keith Ludeman, the chair of the London Transport Museum, for services to transport, and Harris Elliott, an artist, curator and stylist, for services to the arts and to cultural diversity.
Mark Bills, the former director of Gainsborough’s House, received an MBE for services to art, to museums and to the community in Suffolk, while Camilla Hampshire, the former museum manager and cultural lead at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM), was given the same honour for services to culture in Exeter.
Hampshire, who left the museum in 2023 after leading a transformation of the award-winning site, said the honour had come as a “huge surprise”.
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“It is an enormous personal honour and of course I am thrilled,” she said. “I loved my time at RAMM, and it has been a pleasure to serve the people of Exeter and Devon, but everything achieved has only been possible because I was surrounded by a wonderful team. I hope everyone will also see this as recognition for RAMM and of all that the team continues to do.”
MBEs also went to Anastasia Tennant, the former senior policy adviser at Arts Council England, for services to museums and galleries, and Christopher Walker, the executive director of business and operations at Royal Museums Greenwich, for services to culture.
Kirsten Walker, the director of collections care and estates at the Horniman Museum and Gardens was awarded an MBE for services to museums, while Douglas Kerr, founder of Solway Aviation Museum, got the same honour for services to aviation heritage.
A number of museum volunteers received BEMs. Norma Geoghegan, a volunteer at Imperial War Museum North, was recognised for services to heritage and the community in Manchester, while volunteer James Glennie was honoured for services to the Gordon Highlanders Museum and to the Royal British Legion, and Mary Maidment, a volunteer tour guide and steward at the Tate and the Foundling Museum, was recognised for services to heritage.
Tate director Maria Balshaw paid tribute to Maidment and Alex Farquharson. She said: “Alex has led Tate Britain from strength to strength, as well as playing an important leadership role in British art that reaches far beyond the gallery. I know he would want to join me in saying that this honour should also be seen as a celebration of the work of everyone connected with Tate Britain, and that includes our fantastic volunteer guides.
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“Mary is a shining example of the invaluable role that volunteers play in the cultural sector. It is wonderful to see her enthusiasm, knowledge and care for visitors also getting the recognition it deserves.”
Meanwhile Heather Stevens, the head gardener at the Museum of the Home, was given a BEM for services to heritage and to gardening.
Some of the highest honours went to artists and cultural philanthropists. The sculptor Antony Gormley was appointed Companion of Honour, the highest award on the Honours List, for services to art.
Philanthropist siblings Hans Rausing and Anna Rausing, of the Tetra Pak food packaging company, received a knighthood and damehood respectively for services to the arts.
Recipients from the heritage sector included Peter Hinton, the former chief executive of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, who received an OBE for services to archaeology and heritage.
Michael Mellor, co-ordinator of the National Miners ' Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, received an OBE for services to heritage and recognition of the mining community.
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Taryn Nixon, director of Taryn Nixon Heritage Works and trustee of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, was awarded an OBE for services to archaeology and heritage. David Storrar, head of Edinburgh Region at Historic Environment Scotland, received the same honour for services to heritage.
Marjory MacFarlane, trustee and deputy chair of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and chair of the National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland Committee, received an MBE for services to heritage.
William McHugh, heritage and culture transformation lead at Doncaster Council, received an MBE for services to local government, heritage and to the community in South Yorkshire.
Update
19.06.2025
Updated to include a comment from Tate director Maria Balshaw.
