Sir Robert William Kenneth Crawford, (born 3 July 1945) is a former director general of the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

. Educated at Culford School in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

(MA, modern history, 1967), he joined the Imperial War Museum as a research assistant in 1968 and progressed to head of research and information, keeper of the department of photographs, and assistant director. Then in 1982 he became deputy director-general before becoming director-general in 1995, which he served as until his retirement in October 2008. He was chairman of the National Museum Directors' Conference from 2001 to 2006. He was also the deputy chairman of the Museums Documentation Association from 1998 to 2006 and a member of the National Historic Ships Committee until 2006. Crawford is chairman of the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College and a trustee of the Horniman Museum and Gardens,

Royal Logistic Corps The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army. History The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: * Royal Engine ...

Museum Trust, National Maritime Museum, National Museums Liverpool, National Museum of the Royal Navy and Chatham Historic Dockyard. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glovers and was made a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in 1998. Crawford was appointed a

Commander 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 ...

in 2002 for services to museums and a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments made by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year cele ...

References

External links

Imperial War Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Robert 1945 births Living people People educated at Culford School Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Directors of the Imperial War Museum