Paul Thompson is the Rector of the Royal College of Art, the world’s oldest art school in continuous operation, and the only art and design university in the UK operating exclusively at postgraduate level. Prior to 2009, Paul was Director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York from 2001-2009. He was Director of the Design Museum in London from 1993-2001 and was educated at the Universities of Bristol and East Anglia. He is a Trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum and is on the Ashmolean Museum Board of Visitors.