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Esme Ward

Director of Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester

Esme Ward is Director of Manchester Museum at the University of Manchester, European Museum of the Year 2025. Esme has worked in museums and heritage for over 25 years as an educator and cultural leader, holding roles at the V&A, the National Trust, the Whitworth, and Manchester Museum. She is Professor of Heritage Futures and taught Museology for several years. She led the £15 million transformation of Manchester Museum, which reopened in February 2023 and includes the multi-award-winning South Asia Gallery, developed in partnership with the British Museum.

Esme sits on the National Museum Directors’ Council, the Research England Advisory Group. She is founding Chair of the National Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance, and a Fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme.

Esme Ward

Director of Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester

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