Dr David Gaimster is a museum director, heritage advisor, archaeologist and author.
He has worked for over 30 years in senior leadership, curatorial, policy and research roles for museums, heritage organisations, universities and central government across the UK and overseas, 20 years of these as Executive Director/CEO. After 8 rewarding years in Australasia, David has recently returned to the UK with his family and looking forward to pursuing consultancy opportunities in the museums sector and wider cultural heritage.
Most recently, David has been CEO of two of the largest cultural and natural heritage assets in Asia Pacific, the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia (2023-24) and the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, NZ (2017-23). In these roles, he initiated and delivered capital transformation - physical and digital - grew access, visitation and engagement, and strengthened the platforms for bicultural governance and management of cultural assets. As Deputy Chair of the Council of Australasian Museum Directors, David led sector initiatives to improve access for all and to promote the social, cultural and environmental value of museums.
After studying archaeology at Durham University and gaining a PhD in historical archaeology at UCL, David started his museum career at the British Museum in 1986, where he was an Assistant Keeper caring for the European medieval to early modern collections and curated the 15th to 18th Century galleries (1995) and the interdepartmental exhibition Pottery in the Making: World Ceramic Traditions (1997).
In 2001 David moved to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to be Senior Policy Advisor in the Cultural Property Unit. Here he managed the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Treasure Valuation Committee and the work of the Illicit Trade Advisory Panel. He led the Departmental bill team for the enaction of the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act (2003) together with UK accession to the 1970 UNESCO Convention of the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (2002).
In 2004 David was appointed as General Secretary and CEO of the Society of Antiquaries of London, the UK’s oldest heritage body. He led the 2007 renovation of the Society's London Piccadilly premises and co-curated its tercentenary special exhibition, Making History. Antiquaries in Britain 1707-2007, at the Royal Society of Arts, followed by its national and international tour, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (2007-10).
Prior to working in Australasia, David was Director of The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow (2010-17), one of the largest university museum services in Europe and Scotland’s oldest Museum. For the University he led the mixed use redevelopment of the landmark Kelvin Hall building for cultural collections research, learning and community engagement in partnership with Glasgow Life and National Libraries of Scotland.
David has held multiple trustee and executive committee positions, including with the Council of Australasian Museum Directors (CAMD), the UK National Committee for UNESCO, Museums and Galleries Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Oxford Archaeology, the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology and with Wesley’s House and Museum of Methodism, London. He has also served on the boards of international museum networks, notably the European Academic Heritage Network UNIVERSEUM, the Commonwealth Association of Museums and the Council of Australasian Museum Directors.
Throughout his professional career, David has maintained a high level of thought leadership and research activity in the fields of historical archaeology, cultural property policy, museum heritage and curatorial studies. Over the years he has held several hon research and adjunct teaching positions at Royal Holloway, University of London; the Institute of Archaeology, UCL; the University of Leicester; the University of Turku, Finland; and the University of Auckland, NZ. He has acted regularly as a Lecturer and Examiner for the V&A/RCA Masters in the History of Design. In the mid-1990s David took a year’s sabbatical from the British Museum to spend year as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology, Lund University, Sweden. He has been a keynote speaker at two Global Summits of Research Museums (2018 and 2023).
As a museum director, he has convened PG training in museum and curatorial studies at the universities of Glasgow, Auckland and Adelaide. He has also been a member of the Advisory Board of the University Engagement Programme for the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, and of the Academic Board of the Zentrale Kustodie, University of Göttingen, Germany.
David is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) and of the Museums Association (FMA). In 2016 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in recognition of his contribution to museum research and innovation in curatorial practice.
He is the author and joint author/editor of 13 books and monographs and over 75 peer-reviewed journal articles.
In 2025 David was appointed Chair of the Scientific Committee of the World Archaeological Congress (WAC-10).