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New Chairman and Trustees for the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew.

News release

Ref: 247/09
Date: 23 October 2009

New Chairman and Trustees for the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew.

The Secretary of State is pleased to announce the following appointments to the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Mr Marcus Agius has been appointed as Chairman and Dr Geoffrey Hawtin, Professor   Nicola Spence and Sir Ferrers Vyvyan have been appointed as Trustees.

The Chairman and new Trustees will not be paid and their appointments run until October 2012.

The appointments have been made in accordance with the guidance set out by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.  All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.  However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity to be made public.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body created under the National Heritage Act 1983, sponsored by Defra and which operates under a Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew comprises a Chairman and 11 members. Ten members and the Chair are appointed by the Secretary of state. Her Majesty the Queen appoints her own Trustee on the recommendation of the Secretary of State.

Notes to editors

Biographies
  1. Marcus Agius is Chairman of Barclays plc and Senior Independent Director on the Executive Board of the BBC.  He is taking on the role of Chairman having served on both the RBG, Kew Board and as Chairman of the Kew Foundation and Friends Board.
  2. Geoffrey Hawtin, an expert in the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources, was the founding director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and is currently the Trust’s Senior Advisor. During his career he has also been the CEO of two research institutes of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research:  the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Colombia and Bioversity International in Rome, Italy.
  3. Nicola Spence is the Chief Scientist in the Food and Environment Research Agency where she leads on science strategy, quality and innovation.
  4. Sir Ferrers Vyvyan is the owner and manager of Trelowarren Estate and is Chairman of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC), a Learned Society that owns and runs the Royal Cornwall Museum. 

End

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Page published: 23 October 2009