Governance
Trustees
Susan Gibbons, Yale University
Susan Gibbons serves as Yale University’s Vice Provost for Collections & Scholarly Communication and Chief of Staff to the President. As Vice Provost, she connects Yale’s collections with the University’s educational and research mission, overseeing entities such as the Paul Mellon Centre, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale Center for British Art, Yale Peabody Museum, Yale University Library and Yale University Press. Susan holds master’s in history and library science from Indiana University, an MBA from the University of Massachusetts and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Rochester.
Tim Barringer, Yale University
Tim Barringer is Paul Mellon Professor in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University. He specialises in British art and art of the British empire. His books include Reading the Pre-Raphaelites; Men at Work: Art and Labour in Victorian Britain; and John Constable. Collaborative volumes include Frederic Church: Global Artist, (2026); On the Viewing Platform: The Panorama from Canvas to Screen, (2020); Victorian Jamaica, (2018); Writing the Pre-Raphaelites, (2009); Art and the British Empire, (2007); Frederic Leighton, (1999); and Colonialism and the Object, (1998). Tim has co-curated exhibitions including American Sublime; Art and Emancipation in Jamaica; Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde; and Thomas Cole’s Journey.
Edward Cooke, Yale University
Edward S. Cooke, Jr., the Charles F. Montgomery Professor of American Decorative Arts in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University, has written widely on early modern and modern material culture, with an emphasis on the relationship between production and consumption. Edward’s most recent book, Global Objects: Toward a Connected Art History, was published by Princeton University Press in 2022.
Martina Droth, Yale Center for British Art
Martina Droth is the Paul Mellon Director of the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. She was formerly Chair of the Association of Research Institutes in Art History. As an art historian and curator, she is known for her work on sculpture and British art and has curated and published widely. Martina’s exhibitions include Bill Brandt|Henry Moore (2020), shortlisted for the Paris Photo-Aperture PhotoBook Award, and Things of Beauty Growing (2017). In 2025, she curated the first North American museum exhibition of Tracey Emin’s paintings and a major retrospective of Hew Locke.
Russell Epstein, Yale University
Russell Epstein is the Senior Director of Finance and Administration for Collections and Scholarly Communication at Yale University. He serves as the strategic financial partner to the Vice Provost for Collections and Scholarly Communication and supports several units including the library, Yale University Press, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale Center for British Art, Yale Peabody Museum and the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. Russell is a member of the University’s Academic Business Operations leadership team. He earned a BS in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Sarah Kemp, independent trustee
Sarah Kemp is an experienced non-executive director with a specific focus in supporting charities, education and the arts. She has wide national and international executive experience gained in both commercial and not-for-profit organisations. Sarah is currently the Chair of Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds and a trustee of First Light Festival, Lowestoft. She has previously been a trustee of Horniman Museum, Cherie Blair Foundation For Women, Spitalfields Festival and Chetham’s Library. She was the Chief Executive of the international exam board at Trinity College London and is currently working for a PhD in art history.
Pericles Lewis, Yale University
Pericles Lewis is the Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature and a professor of English at Yale University. He serves as Dean of Yale College, responsible for the undergraduate programmes of the University. In 2009 and 2011, he taught at the Paul Mellon Centre as part of the Yale in London programme. Pericles is the author of three books on modern literature and editor of several works, including the twentieth- and twenty-first-century sections of The Norton Anthology of World Literature.
Sandy Nairne, independent trustee
Sandy Nairne is a writer and curator and former director of the National Portrait Gallery. He previously worked as Director of Programmes at Tate and as Director of Visual Arts for the Arts Council. Sandy’s publications include Thinking about Exhibitions (co-edited, 1996), Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners (2012), The Coincidence of Novembers (edited, 2020) and Titan of the Thames: The Life of Lord Desborough (co-authored, 2024). As well as serving as Chair of the Fabric Advisory Committee at St Paul’s Cathedral, he is Deputy Chair of the National Trust and Chair of Art Fund.
Steven Wilkinson, Yale University
Steven Wilkinson is the Dean of Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies, and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs. He is the author and editor of many books and articles on democracy and conflict in South Asia, including Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy since Independence (Harvard, 2015); Patrons, Clients and Policies (Cambridge, 2007, with Herbert Kitschelt); and Votes and Violence (Cambridge, 2004), a recipient of the American Political Science Association’s best book award. Steven is a member of Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and an elected member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Advisory Council
A group of distinguished representatives meets twice a year to consider applications for financial support offered by the Paul Mellon Centre’s Grants & Fellowships Programme.
The Advisory Council currently consists of:
Lucy Biddle, Raven Row
Gary A. Boyd, University College Dublin
Steven Brindle, Independent Scholar
Viccy Coltman, University of Edinburgh
Adam Eaker, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Michaela Giebelhausen, University of Birmingham
Fiona Kearney, University College Cork
Alexander Marr, Cambridge University
Frédéric Ogée, Universite Paris Cite
Romita Ray, Syracuse University
Matthew Reeve, Queen's University, Canada
Ming Tiampo, Carleton University
Victoria Walsh, Royal College of Arts
The Council’s meetings are also attended by Rachel Chatalbash, Deputy Director for Research, Yale Center for British Art.
Publications Committee
A group of distinguished scholars and publishers meets twice a year to consider proposals for Paul Mellon Centre publications.
The Publications Committee currently consists of:
Alixe Bovey, Courtauld Institute of Art
Alex Bremner, University of Edinburgh
Kirsty Sinclair Dootson, University College London
Mark Eastment, Yale University Press
David J. Getsy, University of Virginia
Saloni Mathur, University of California, Los Angeles
Catherine Molineux, Vanderbilt University
Annual Reports
The most recent Annual Report, No. 53, is available below.
Other copies of Paul Mellon Centre Annual Reports (2015–) are available via our Issuu channel.