People

The museum is led by CEO Nat Edwards and governed by a board of trustees

Staff

  • Nat Edwards

    CEO

    Nat has over 30 years’ experience working in Museums, Heritage and visitor attractions. His career has taken him from institutions such as the British Museum, National Library of Scotland, National Trust for Scotland and Glasgow Museums, through a number of award-winning developments – including the creation of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayrshire, of which he was the founding Director – to a diverse array of business initiatives, exhibitions, community and educational projects, working with everyone from global brands and international NGOs to social enterprises and community health projects. He is fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and also author of Caledonia’s Last Stand: In search of the Lost Scots of Darien. 

Trustees

  • Dr Neil Kaiper-Holmes

    Chairman - Board of Trustees

    Leeds Medical School graduate and former GP, Dr Neil Kaiper-Holmes brings an outstanding record of managing diverse businesses and extensive experience in all matters of governance.

    Previously both Group Medical Director and Managing Director of a group of healthcare and communications PLC businesses, Neil is also a Trustee of the much-loved Leeds Rhinos Foundation. During his time as Chair of the foundation, he implemented transformative change relating to income generation, as well as organisational restructuring to ensure the foundation continues to deliver life-changing initiatives to various communities.

    Neil is a Director of a multi-academy educational trust and Chairman of their Audit Committee and a Parish Councillor.

    His passion and commitment to changing lives and the wealth of experience he has in the charity sector mean he is well equipped to achieve our mission and propel Thackray forward as the leading independent medical museum in the country.

  • Simon Kay

    Medical Director

    Simon Kay is a renowned consultant plastic surgeon, who led his team in performing the first double hand transplant at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. He has been appointed as the first-ever medical director of the museum.

    The acclaimed surgeon first became interested in medicine after suffering severe burns as a child. Fascinated with the psychological effects of surgery and particularly, hand deformity, he went on to specialise in plastic surgery. Simon now works at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, in both adult and children hand clinics, often performing difficult and time-consuming surgeries. Simon’s work has also extended to gallery development as he assists The Thackray in telling the story of medicine and healthcare for a 21st century audience.

    Simon uses his expertise and knowledge to help the museum tell accurate and relevant stories about healthcare innovation in an accessible, original and inspiring way.

  • Jo Norry

    Board of Trustees

    Jo Norry is Director of Libraries and Learning Innovation at Leeds Beckett University, leading the service which manages the libraries, student IT support, student academic skills, and the support of digital learning technologies. She has been a Staff Governor of the University since 2018.

    Having worked in higher education for over 30 years, Jo has been at Leeds Beckett since 2000, having worked at Sheffield Hallam University, University of Northampton, and York Minster. She is a chartered librarian, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, and holds postgraduate qualifications in librarianship, human resource management, and a Masters in Medieval English Literature from the University of Newcastle.

    Jo was elected Chair of the Northern Collaboration in 2018, an organisation of 29 university libraries in the north, and has served as a Trustee and Member of the Board of SCONUL (Society for College, National and University Libraries).

  • Nosober Latif

    Board of Trustees

    Nosober Latif is Partnership Development Lead at NHS Digital and currently leads the international engagement activity for the organisation, previously she led on industry liaison and introduced a model for industry engagement and established a strategic partnership with techUK.

    She has extensive experience of working in the UK public sector and has held senior positions in the NHS and local government, including Programme Delivery Manager at NHS England, Senior Project Manager at Leeds Community Healthcare Trust, Deputy Chief Executive at Doncaster New Deal for Communities and Resources Director for Burngreave New Deal for Communities.  She has worked on policy and strategy for Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council and on partnership activity for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and Sheffield City Council.

    In her spare time, she enjoys the outdoors and taking her children for long hikes at the weekend.

  • Sharon Heal

    Board of Trustees

    Sharon is the director of the Museums Association, a campaigning membership body that promotes the value of museums to society. She regularly comments on museums and cultural policy in the UK; speaks at conferences and events in the UK and internationally; and has published extensively. She lectures in the history of museums, museum ethics, and museums and social impact.

    Sharon is the chair of the Museum of Homelessness and a member of the Museum Slaskie Council, Poland.

    Sharon is passionate about the difference that museums can make working with their local communities. We know that museums can enhance health and wellbeing and create better places for us to live and work. Brought up in east Leeds, she is delighted to be joining the board of the Thackray at such an exciting point in its development.

     

  • Steven Clegg

    Board of Trustees

    Steven grew up in York and lives near Harrogate. He is a finance and business professional, experienced in a broad range of sectors and chairs Thackray’s Risk and Audit Committee. Currently he is the head of finance for a Leeds based I.T. company. He is a qualified accountant and is interested in organisational development.

  • Andrew Fotherby

    Board of Trustees

    Andrew studied Management with Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Leeds, and has 20 years experience in engineering, construction and project management of infrastructure and building projects in the UK and overseas. Andrew is a Director at WYG, a multidiscipline project management and technical consultancy for the built and natural environment with 1,500 staff in the UK. He is a Board Member for Management Services, responsible for Project & Cost Management in the Midlands, North of England and Scotland, overseeing more than £1bn of capital programmes and projects across Defence, Education, Residential, Culture, Healthcare, Energy and Local Government sectors. He is the corporate representative to the Major Projects Association is also the main representative for WYG’s Corporate Social Responsibility engagement with the Royal British Legion.

  • Mark Goldstone

    Board of Trustees

    Head of Business Representation & Policy
    Leeds, York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce

    Mark heads up the Chamber’s business representation activities advising local authorities, politicians, government departments and ministers on regional business issues and sentiment. He is responsible for the Chamber’s research function providing evidence and intelligence on issues as far afield as planning and infrastructure investment to overseas trade, education and skills. Mark is actively involved in economic development and policy issues within the Leeds City Region working with partners across the public and private sectors to help create the environment for business to grow and expand. He holds a Masters’ degree in Physics from the University of Birmingham and an MBA from Leeds Business School.

  • Dean Jowett

    Board of Trustees

    Dean is a qualified solicitor with over 12 years post qualification experience specialising in commercial property matters, specifically in residential and commercial development projects and property finance. Dean acts for a range of clients including household names such as Persimmon Homes, Santander and RBS. He trained with Hammonds Solicitors in Leeds and spent over a decade with national practices before joining Schofield Sweeney in Leeds as a partner in 2014 where he is now an equity partner. Schofield Sweeney is a full service regional law firm with 3 offices in West Yorkshire which employs over 150 staff and has a turnover in excess of £10m