Alistair Hardaker | Image: Leena Nair (Yoliveros - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Appointment supported by King Charles to bolster Masterplan rebuilding galleries and relocating collections to Reading facility.
Leena Nair CBE is the newest member of the British Museum’s board of trustees.
Nair will take up the role immediately and will attend her first meeting as Trustee in July.
Nair is global chief executive officer of fashion brand Chanel, headquartered in London. She previously spent thirty years at Unilever where she was the chief human resources officer and a member of the executive committee.
The museum said the appointment, which was approved by King Charles, will bolster experience for its Masterplan project, which sees it rebuild and modernise a third of its galleries, move collections to a new facility near Reading, and increase sustainable energy practices.
On her appointment, Nair, said: “I am grateful to The King for this appointment and am honoured to join this prestigious institution that plays such an essential role in London, the UK, and across the global cultural landscape in bringing context, inspiration, discovery, and joy to so many.’
George Osborne, chair of the British Museum trustees, said Nair is “one of our generation’s most successful business leaders”, and her appointment “makes the strong Board we have been building even stronger.”
Chanel has previously partnered with the National Portrait Gallery on a project to highlight lesser-known women in British history, and the V&A, where Chanel partnered with the Palais Galliera on a major retrospective exhibition.
