TheDirector of the British Museum is the head of theBritish Museum in London, a post currently held byNicholas Cullinan. He is responsible for that institution's general administration and reports its accounts to theBritish Government. The actual governance of the British Museum, however, is delegated to its board of trustees.^[1]

At the museum's inception its most senior member of staff was called "principal librarian". The job title became "director and principal librarian" in 1898, and "director" in 1973, on the separation of theBritish Library from the museum.

• 1756–1772:Gowin Knight
• 1772–1776:Matthew Maty
• 1776–1799:Charles Morton
• 1799–1827:Joseph Planta
• 1827–1856: SirHenry Ellis
• 1856–1866: SirAnthony Panizzi
• 1866–1873:John Winter Jones
• 1873–1888: SirEdward Augustus Bond
• 1888–1898: SirEdward Maunde Thompson

• 1898–1909: SirEdward Maunde Thompson
• 1909–1931: SirFrederic George Kenyon
• 1931–1936: SirGeorge Francis Hill
• 1936–1950: SirJohn Forsdyke
• 1950–1959: SirThomas Downing Kendrick
• 1959–1969: SirFrank Francis
• 1969–1974:John Wolfenden

• 1974–1977: SirJohn Pope-Hennessy
• 1977–1992: SirDavid M. Wilson
• 1992–2002:Robert Anderson
• 1999–2001Suzanna Taverne (managing director)^[2]
• 2003–2015:Neil MacGregor
• 2016–2023:Hartwig Fischer
• 2023–2024: SirMark Jones (interim)
• 2024–present:Nicholas Cullinan

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(June 2018)

• 1971–1983:Maysie Webb; first incumbent
• 1983–1997:Jean Rankine^[3]
• 1997–2002:
• 2002–2013:Andrew Burnett^[4][5]
• 2002–2005:Dawn Austwick^[6]
• 2013–present:Joanna Mackle^[7]
• 2013–present: Jonathan Williams^[8]

• List of trustees of the British Museum

• Directors of the British Museum
• Lists of office-holders in London

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• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from March 2025
• Use British English from August 2015
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Incomplete lists from June 2018