Sir Neil Cossons FMA (born 15 January 1939) is a British historian and museum administrator.

Biography

Cossons was born in Beeston and studied at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

. He was the first director of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust from 1971 and then at the

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

from 1983. From 1986 to 2000 he was the director of the

Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...

, (awarded Science Museum Fellowship 2019) UK. From 1989-95, and 1999-2000 he was an English Heritage commissioner. He was pro-provost and chairman of council of the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

from 2007 until 2015. In 2000, he took over as chairman of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

,Sir Neil Cossons has taken over as Chairman of English Heritage
/ref> a post he held to 2007.People of Today: Neil Cossons, www.debretts.com
accessed 16 January 2016. He was one of the founders of the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) and its chairman from 1978 to 1983 when he was appointed president, a position he still holds. Cossons was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1982 and knighted for services to museums and the heritage in 1994. He is a Fellow 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 ...

(FMA 1970) and a Life Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

(FSA 1968). A member of the Newcomen Society for the history of engineering and technology since 1963, Cossons was president from 2001–03 and awarded the society's Dickinson Memorial Medal in 2001. In 2016, he was appointed a Trustee of the

National Heritage Memorial Fund The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of the British national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. It replaced the National Land Fund, which had fulfilled t ...

/Heritage Lottery Fund. Other appointments include: president of the

Association for Industrial Archaeology The Association for Industrial Archaeology (AIA) was established in Great Britain in 1973 to promote the study of industrial archaeology and to encourage improved standards of recording, research, conservation and publication. It aims to support ...

(1977–80); member of the

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom Charitable trust, charity incorporated by royal charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instr ...

(1990–94); non-executive director of British Waterways Board (1995–2001); Collier Professor in the Public Understanding of Science in the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

(2001–02); president of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

(2003–2006) He has been an honorary professor at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

since 1994. Cossons holds honorary doctorates from fourteen British universities, was awarded the President's Medal of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

in 1993, and appointed an honorary fellow of the

RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

in 2002. Cossons is "Britain's leading authority on the industrial heritage" and has advised on matters of conservation and management widely in the UK and overseas. In 1997 he received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays and Neck Ribbon (2023)

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cossons, Neil 1939 births Living people People from Beeston, Nottinghamshire English curators Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Officers of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Directors of museums in the United Kingdom Directors of the National Maritime Museum Directors of the Science Museum, London Ironbridge Gorge People educated at Henry Mellish Grammar School Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society Presidents of the Association for Science Education Fellows of the Museums Association Industrial archaeology Museum administrators