Lord Browne Named Chair of the Donmar Warehouse Board

The Donmar Warehouse today announces that Lord Browne of Madingley will succeed Lord Smith of Finsbury as Chair of its Board. John Browne will take over from Chris Smith from 19 March 2015.

Lord Browne will work closely with Josie Rourke and Kate Pakenham, the company's Artistic Director and Executive Producer.

Lord Browne said: "I am delighted to be involved with an organisation that represents artistic innovation and excellence in the greatest city on Earth."

Josie Rourke and Kate Pakenham said: "We are thrilled and honoured that someone of Lord Browne's calibre and international reputation within both the arts and business sectors has accepted this role. We look forward to working with him to build on the Donmar's successes and expand its reach and reputation."

The Donmar has recently produced a series of acclaimed productions including My Night With Reg, which transfers to the West End in 2015; Phyllida Lloyd's all female Henry IV, which recently completed a week's residency in Tower Hamlets; and Artistic Director Josie Rourke's revival of City of Angels, which opened this week to critical acclaim.

Lord Browne has earned degrees from Cambridge and Stanford Universities. He joined BP in 1966 and he joined the board in 1991. He was appointed Group Chief Executive in 1995 and held that position until May 2007.

He is a businessman with wide corporate interests, a Fellow and former President of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2006-2011), a Fellow of the Royal Society and a foreign member of the US Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was appointed a Trustee of the Tate Gallery on 1 August 2007 and Chairman of the Trustees on 26 January 2009. He was appointed the UK Government's Lead Non-Executive Board member in June 2010. He is a Governor of the Folger Library (Washington DC), Chairman of the Trustees of the Queen Elizabeth II Prize for Engineering, Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, and a member of a variety of other trusts and boards. He chaired the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance (the Browne Review, 2010).

He was Chairman of the Advisory Board of Apax Partners LLC from 2006-2007. He was a non-executive director of Goldman Sachs from 1999 to 2007, a non-executive director of Intel Corporation from 1997 - 2006, a Trustee of The British Museum from 1995-2005, a member of the Supervisory Board of DaimlerChrysler AG from 1998 - 2001 and a non-executive director of SmithKline Beecham from 1996-1999.

He was voted Most Admired CEO by Management Today from 1999 - 2002.

He was knighted in 1998 and made a life peer in 2001.

He is the author of the memoirs Beyond Business, the popular science book Seven Elements that Changed the World, and The Glass Closet, a commentary on LGBT acceptance and inclusion in business.

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