Margaret Mary Appleton (born 21 August 1965) is an English museum director. She has been the Chief Executive Officer of the

RAF Museum The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body and is a registered charity. It has two public sites, Royal Air Force Museum London and Royal Air Fo ...

since 2015.

Early life and education

Appleton was born in Wyndham and brought up in Kirkham,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. Her father died when she was six. She and her sister were brought up by their mother. Appleton attended Willow Road Catholic Primary School. Her secondary education took place at Lark Hill Newman College. In 1984, she accepted a place at Liverpool University where she studied medieval and modern history. After graduating, she worked as a medical sales rep and volunteered at Peterborough Museum Appleton completed a MSc in Heritage Management from Birmingham University's Ironbridge Institute.

Career

Appleton began her career in museums at the

Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Once an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is als ...

. In 1991, she moved to Stevenage Museum and was there for 11 years. She left in 2003 to become the director of museums for Luton Museum Service. While there, she oversaw a major renovation of Stockwood Discovery Centre and the acquisition of the medieval Wenlock Jug. In 2008, she set up Luton Culture, an independent charitable trust, and became its first chief executive. Appleton was appointed CEO of the RAF Museum in October 2014. As the CEO, she led the Museum's £26M transformation to mark the centenary of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

in 2018. She served as the president of the

Museums Association The Museums Association (MA) is a professional membership organisation based in London for museum, gallery and heritage professionals and organisations of the United Kingdom. It also offers international membership. History The association w ...

between 2018 and 2021.

Awards

Appleton was awarded an MBE for services to museums and heritage in 2011. She is an honorary graduate of the University of Middlesex.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Appleton, Maggie People from Lancashire (before 1974) Museum administrators 1965 births Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool People from Kirkham, Lancashire