Designation Panel
The Designation Panel members, who work across the fields of arts, cultural heritage and historical research, meet twice a year to consider applications for Designated status.
Introduction
You can find a list of the current Designation Panel members below:
Designation Panel
Dr Nick Merriman
Chief Executive of English Heritage
Dr Nick Merriman OBE joined English Heritage as Chief Executive in 2024. He was previously Chief Executive of the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London which was awarded the Art Fund Museum of the Year prize in July 2022.
Nick has held roles at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, and Manchester Museum at the University of Manchester where he was Director.
He is Honorary Professor of Museum Studies at UCL and the University of Manchester, and until recently was Chair of the National Trust’s Collections and Interpretation Advisory Group. He chaired the 2023 review of funding for Higher Education Museums, Galleries and Collections for UKRI. Among many other appointments has been President of the Council for British Archaeology and Chair of ICOM UK. Recent books are ‘Museums and the Climate Crisis’ (Routledge, 2024) and ‘Returning The Benin Bronzes. A case study of the Horniman’s restitution’ (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming).
He is Honorary Professor of Museum Studies at UCL and the University of Manchester, and until recently was Chair of the National Trust’s Collections and Interpretation Advisory Group. He chaired the 2023 review of funding for Higher Education Museums, Galleries and Collections for UKRI. Among many other appointments has been President of the Council for British Archaeology and Chair of ICOM UK. Recent books are ‘Museums and the Climate Crisis’ (Routledge, 2024) and ‘Returning The Benin Bronzes. A case study of the Horniman’s restitution’ (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming).
Belinda Day
Senior Curator, National Army Museum
Belinda Day is a Senior Curator at the National Army Museum, with specific responsibility for Medals, Badges and Uniform and a member of the Museums Association. She has worked in National Military Museums for over 15 years, working with a range of different collection types from archives and photographs to horse furniture and aircraft. She is passionate about museum collections and the stories they can tell to engage the wider public with our shared heritage.
She has a wide range of museum experience including working with potential donors to acquire important and appropriate objects, curating exhibitions, writing articles for catalogues, periodicals and online as well as presenting at academic conferences and to the wider public.
Janet Dugdale
Executive Director, National Museums Liverpool
Janet is Director of Museums at National Museums Liverpool, including World Museum, Museum of Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum, the International Slavery Museum and Seized! (the Border Force national collection and museum). She is responsible for the collections and curatorial teams for our museum venues.
As well as the museums her remit also includes other buildings on the waterfront, including the Canning Graving Docks.
Janet joined National Museums Liverpool in 1997 as Curator of Social and Community History and, from 2000, headed the successful Museum of Liverpool Life. She led the content and interpretation teams creating the Museum of Liverpool, which opened under her directorship in 2011. She is a strong advocate for, and practitioner of, participative and partnership working in museums.
Janet holds a History degree from the University of Manchester and a postgraduate Diploma in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester. She took the UEA Museum Leadership Programme and was in the first cohort of the Museum Association’s Transformers programme. She is a Fellow of the Museums Association, the Royal Society of Arts and the Institute of Leadership & Management.
Janet joined National Museums Liverpool in 1997 as Curator of Social and Community History and, from 2000, headed the successful Museum of Liverpool Life. She led the content and interpretation teams creating the Museum of Liverpool, which opened under her directorship in 2011. She is a strong advocate for, and practitioner of, participative and partnership working in museums.
Janet holds a History degree from the University of Manchester and a postgraduate Diploma in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester. She took the UEA Museum Leadership Programme and was in the first cohort of the Museum Association’s Transformers programme. She is a Fellow of the Museums Association, the Royal Society of Arts and the Institute of Leadership & Management.
Katie Eagleton
Director of Libraries and Museums, University of St Andrew’s
Katie joined the University of St Andrew’s as Director of Museums in July 2019 and was appointed Director of Libraries and Museums on 1 August 2020.
Throughout her career, Katie’s work has combined library, archival and museum collections.
Throughout her career, Katie’s work has combined library, archival and museum collections.
Moving into the cultural heritage sector after completion of her PhD at the University of Cambridge, she became a curator in the British Museum developing new projects on global history and the history of Africa, and then Head of Asian and African Collections for the British Library, initiating a number of large digitisation projects, international collaborations, and service improvement projects. In 2017 Katie took up the post of Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs (Chief Curator) at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where she had senior responsibility for museum, archival and photographic collections, as well as digital collections and scholarship.
In 2018, Katie was a Fellow on the Getty Leadership Institute programme for cultural leadership in the US, and she has also participated in the Clore Leadership Programme in
the UK. She is a member of the steering group for the AHRC Towards a National Collection programme which aims to open up digital access to cultural heritage collections of all kinds.
In 2018, Katie was a Fellow on the Getty Leadership Institute programme for cultural leadership in the US, and she has also participated in the Clore Leadership Programme in
the UK. She is a member of the steering group for the AHRC Towards a National Collection programme which aims to open up digital access to cultural heritage collections of all kinds.
Gabrielle Heffernan
National Football Museum
Gabrielle has more than a decade of experience working in heritage organisations. Beginning work as an assistant archivist, she moved into museums through an NLHF-funded curatorial traineeship at the British Museum and Glasgow Museums, where she specialised in curating ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean collections.
Following this she worked with designated collections at Hull Museums and as Curatorial Manager at Tullie House, before moving to her current role where she oversees collections, exhibitions, learning, engagement and volunteering, as well as leading on National Football Museum's NPO programme.
Gabrielle is also a mentor for the Associateship of the Museums Association, having gained the AMA in 2017, and is part of the 2021 Clore Emerging Leaders Cohort.
Gabrielle is also a mentor for the Associateship of the Museums Association, having gained the AMA in 2017, and is part of the 2021 Clore Emerging Leaders Cohort.
Sarah Lawrence
Freelance independent curator and writer
Sarah has developed, managed and interpreted collections for more than 30 years.
As Collection Director at Seven Stories the National Centre for Children’s Books, from 2003-21, Sarah led the development of a new collection of national importance and was successful in bringing the archives of many leading children’s authors and illustrators into the public domain.
Sarah now works freelance as an independent curator and writer, with a special focus on creative collections-based programming with and for older people including people living with dementia.
Sarah now works freelance as an independent curator and writer, with a special focus on creative collections-based programming with and for older people including people living with dementia.
Dr Hugh Maguire, FRSA
Private Consultant
Hugh is a Private Consultant in the Museum and Heritage Sector. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, he lectured throughout the 1990s in the Crawford School of Art, Cork, the University of Otago and the University of Auckland, New Zealand. In this same period, he organised a range of international conferences and delivered papers across New Zealand and Australia.
As Museums & Archives Officer with the Heritage Council he delivered the Council’s Museum Standards Programme for Ireland and in the same period liaised actively with the Irish conservation sector.
Hugh acted as Director of the Hunt Museum Limerick between 2009 and 2016 and brought the Museum through its first accreditation process. In this same role he was conscious of the ongoing challenges posed in preserving buildings and collections of significance. A former member of the International Jury for the Europa Nostra Conservation Awards he has also been proactive member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), Chairing the Irish National Committee as well as ICOM’s recently established International Working Group on National Committees. Hugh is Advisor to the Pope Grotto Preservation Trust, Twickenham.
Hugh joined the Committee as an ICOM representative in 2020.
Hugh acted as Director of the Hunt Museum Limerick between 2009 and 2016 and brought the Museum through its first accreditation process. In this same role he was conscious of the ongoing challenges posed in preserving buildings and collections of significance. A former member of the International Jury for the Europa Nostra Conservation Awards he has also been proactive member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), Chairing the Irish National Committee as well as ICOM’s recently established International Working Group on National Committees. Hugh is Advisor to the Pope Grotto Preservation Trust, Twickenham.
Hugh joined the Committee as an ICOM representative in 2020.
Dr Bharti Parmar
Artist and academic
Dr Bharti Parmar is an artist and academic with a practice of 30 years. She trained at the Royal College of Art and has a PhD in material culture studies. She is represented in numerous institutional collections such as the Whitworth Art Gallery and the Government Art Collection. She is also co-editor of Colour, Vol. 4 of the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of World Textiles.
Catriona Wilson
Head of the Petrie Museum, UCL
Catriona has worked in the heritage sector for two decades in independent, local authority, and university museums.
She is Head of the Petrie Museum at UCL, responsible for its Designated, internationally renowned collection of over 80,000 ancient Egyptian and Sudanese archaeological objects.
She is Head of the Petrie Museum at UCL, responsible for its Designated, internationally renowned collection of over 80,000 ancient Egyptian and Sudanese archaeological objects.
Prior to this, Catriona was Collections Manager and joint Heritage Manager at Guildford Heritage Service, established a new museum of medical history at the University of Worcester (The Infirmary), and has facilitated and delivered collections research and community engagement projects in a wide variety of contexts.