LONDON.- The Trustees of Tate have elected Lord Browne of Madingley as their Chair with immediate effect. He has been a Tate Trustee since August 2007.

In October 2008, Tate’s Chair Paul Myners was appointed by the Prime Minister to the position of Financial Services Secretary in The Treasury, taking up a position in the House of Lords. This ministerial position meant that he had to conclude his Chairmanship of Tate. Sir Howard Davies was appointed by the Board to the position of Senior Trustee in March 2008 and he has acted as the Interim Chair since Paul Myners stood down.

Lord Browne has always been a passionate supporter of the arts, and of Tate in particular, through his encouragement of the sponsorship of Tate’s BP British Art Displays and through his personal interest in the gallery. He joined British Petroleum plc in 1966 and stayed with the company throughout his career, becoming Group Chief Executive from 1995-2007. He has held non-executive directorships with Redland plc, SmithKline Beecham plc, DaimlerChrysler, Intel Corporation, and Goldman Sachs, and from 2006 - 2007 was Chairman of the Apax Advisory Board. He is currently Managing Director and Managing Partner (Europe) of Riverstone Holdings LLC. He was knighted in 1998 for services to industry, and was made a Life Peer in 2001, becoming a crossbencher in the House of Lords. He has previously been a Trustee of the British Museum (1995-2005), and has been President of the Royal Academy of Engineering since 2006. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is Life Vice-President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Lord Browne said: “Tate’s impact in the arts is felt around the world and I am honoured and privileged to be playing such a key part in it”.

Nicholas Serota, Director of Tate, commented: “We are delighted that Lord Browne has accepted the Chairmanship of the Board. His long held and demonstrable interest and enthusiasm for the arts combined with his vast business expertise and knowledge make him an outstanding choice. We are very grateful to Paul Myners who has led Tate through one of the most successful periods in its history and has overseen the devising of the gallery's strategic directives to 2015. Under his Chairmanship, the combined visitor figures to the four Tate sites have risen to 7.7 million, the Collection has grown significantly and plans for a major development at Tate Modern are underway. We are also grateful to Sir Howard Davies for his work as a Tate's Senior Trustee and his recent work as interim Chair“.