Guy Baxter named director of University of Reading’s Museum of English Rural Life

Guy Baxter has been announced as the next director of the University of Reading’s museums and collections service, including the Museum of English Rural Life (Merl).

Baxter succeeds Kate Arnold-Forster, who is retiring almost 24 years at the museum.

Currently the head of archive services, Baxter will take up his new role on 26 October.

He has been associated with the University of Reading’s museums for almost 30 years, first joining the Merl in 1997 to work on its photographic collections, which include the glass-plate negative of a stocky Exmoor Horn ram that went viral as the museum's “absolute unit”.

He subsequently spent nine years at the Victoria and Albert Museum before returning to Reading in 2008 as head of archive services.

Arnold-Forster has led the Merl since 2003 and became director of the university’s museums and special collections service in 2008. During her tenure, the service secured increased Research England funding and established Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership between the Merl and Reading Museum.

She also co-led the University Museums Group and was awarded an MBE in 2015 for her contribution to university museums.

Speaking about her retirement, Arnold-Forster said: “It’s been an immense privilege to lead the university’s museums and collections.

“I feel both fortunate and proud to have been able to contribute to realising the potential of Reading’s exceptional museums and collections, alongside my wonderful colleagues; creating museums and collections that play a powerful role in our local communities, within the university, and even nationally through our ambitious approach to audiences and digital content.”

Isabel Hughes, the service's associate director and head of curatorial and public engagement, is also retiring. She joined the university in 2011 to lead the bid and delivery of Our Country Lives, a multi-million-pound redevelopment of the Merl carried out between 2014 and 2016.

According to a statement from the museum, the project transformed the Merl’s galleries, collections and public programmes and “opened the museum’s doors to a new generation of visitors in person and online”. Hughes has been associate director of the Merl since 2011.

The museum said Arnold-Forster and Hughes had “left an incredible legacy for us to build upon”.

Baxter said he was “extremely excited” to take on the role and build on the legacy left by both departing leaders.

“In the past 25 years we have transformed our museums and collections through our interdisciplinary collaborations across museums, libraries, archives, and university scholarship,” he said.

“As we look to the future, we will continue to explore how we can use the university’s museums and collections to meet the challenges of the world today. We will deepen our commitments to open and inclusive practice [and] evolve our support of the university and our partners across the community.”

Karen Henderson, the University of Reading’s director of research and innovation, said Baxter’s appointment provided “continuity” while creating opportunities for development.

“As a senior leader for many years, Guy’s appointment brings continuity to the achievements of the university’s museums and collections,” she said. “But it is also an exciting moment for growth and innovation.”

The university’s museums and collections service includes the Merl, Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology and Cole Museum of Zoology, as well as archive, library, printing, herbarium and geology collections.