Wessex Archaeology is at an exciting juncture in its 45-year history. With an eye to the future, the charitable company has been expanding its global partnerships, enhancing its technical capabilities, investing in its staff and sector-leader sustainability and public impact initiatives.

It is with great pleasure, therefore, that the organisation welcomes Tom Wright CBE as the new Chair of its Board, and four new Trustees: Alex Schultz, Madeline Denmead, Steve Trow OBE and Professor Robin Skeates. The new Board members bring diverse and valuable experience that will support the Chief Executive and Executive Management team to continue evolving our strategy and fulfilling the organisation’s charitable purpose.

Tom takes over from Ian Selby who served as Chair and a valued member of Wessex Archaeology’s Board for more than a decade.

Stu Eve, Chief Executive at Wessex Archaeology, said: “It’s quite humbling looking at the CVs of the new Chair and the Trustees joining our Board. Wessex Archaeology is fortunate to have some of the leading minds in the archaeology sector already within our organisation. With the technical skills, diverse professional experience and strategic insight of our new Board members added into the mix, I’m incredibly excited about what the future holds for our organisation.”

Tom Wright CBE, Chair of the Board, Wessex Archaeology, said: “I’ve long respected the expertise of the team at Wessex Archaeology. Through my work as a Trustee on several museum and heritage Boards, I’ve seen first-hand the diverse and exceptional skills the Wessex Archaeology experts bring and the positive impact this has. I look forward to working with my fellow Trustees to enable the executive team to build on the success of the organisation.”

 

Tom Wright CBE, Chair of the Board

Tom brings extensive experience working with complex stakeholders and setting up collaborations and will very much support the organisation in developing its strategy over the years ahead. His love of history, heritage and the environment led him to serve as a Trustee for the National Museum of the Royal Navy, The Land Trust, and The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust. He is currently Chair of The Imperial War Museum Development Trust and Leeds Castle Enterprises. He has just completed a season as the Managing Director of the Chalke History Festival.

 

Alex Schultz, Trustee

Alex is Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Analytics at  Meta, where he has been pivotal in enabling the company to connect over 2 billion people. Alex brings his experience of communicating at scale using modern technology to Wessex Archaeology, alongside his exceptional technical knowledge. With a specialist background in natural sciences, specialising in experimental and theoretical physics, Alex is a passionate supporter of access to education and has funded bursaries, teaching officers, and outreach and access posts.

 

Madeline Denmead, Trustee

Madeline brings extensive financial expertise having held finance and business director roles at not-for-profit organisations including the BBC, the Design Council, Cancer Research UK and WWF UK. She has extensive experience at Board-level overseeing how charities, public bodies and commercial businesses address large-scale, complex issues to deliver a range of strategic aims. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Madeline is a Governor of the University of Portsmouth and an External Adviser to the Royal College of Nursing. 

 

Steve Trow OBE, Trustee

Steve brings decades of strategic engagement experience in the heritage sector. Having started his career in field archaeology, Steve held roles at the British Museum, English Heritage as its Head of Rural and Environmental Policy and Historic England, as Director of Research and a member of its Executive Team. He currently serves as an appointed member of the New Forest National Park and is a Research Advisor to the National Trust and a member of its Historic Environment Advisory Group.  He also serves as a Trustee of Pedall. In 2019 Steve was awarded an OBE for services to heritage.

 

Professor Robin Skeates, Trustee

Robin is a Professor of Archaeology at Durham University and brings extensive knowledge and experience in global archaeology and heritage to Wessex Archaeology. Alongside his academic teaching and research work, Robin is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. The incoming Editor of Antiquity, in 2019, he was made an Honorary Member of the European Association of Archaeologists, having served as General Editor of the European Journal of Archaeology. A Guest Professor at the School of Archaeology at Jilin University, China, Robin has also served as a Member of the National Trust’s Archaeology Advisory Panel.

 

Learn more about all of Wessex Archaeology’s Trustees on our People Pages,