Philip Long

Philip Long joined the National Trust for Scotland as Chief Executive in 2020, accountable to the Board of Trustees for all aspects of the work of the charity.

From 2011 he was founding Director of V&A Dundee, which opened in 2018 as a new international museum with a mission to enrich people’s lives through understanding of the designed world, its heritage and its vital role in our future. Prior to V&A Dundee, Philip was Senior Curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

His academic specialisation is in historic and contemporary Scottish and wider British art and design, on which he has curated many exhibitions and written widely, including on Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Sir Basil Spence, the Scottish Colourists, the Edinburgh School of Artists and many contemporary artists. He was co-editor of The Story of Scottish Design (published in 2018), the first comprehensive history of Scotland’s design heritage.

Philip’s international work has included the curation of Scotland’s presentation at the Venice Biennale (2007), responsibility for the UK presentation at the Milan Design Triennale (2016) and advising museums and government agencies on the development of new cultural and heritage organisations.

He is an Honorary Research Fellow of St Andrews University, a member of the British Council’s Arts and Creative Economy Committee, and a Board member of Creative Scotland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and in 2019 was the recipient of a unique award for Transforming Scotland from the Institute of Directors. He received an OBE in the New Year’s Honour List in 2020 for services to Culture and Heritage.