Executive Director to leave legacy at Dorset Museum as he takes on 'irresistible' role
Dr Jon Murden is going to work with the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu
After 12 years of working with Dorset Museum, Executive Director Dr Jon Murden is leaving.
He will take on a new position as the chief executive of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire.
Dr Murden joined the Museum in 2009 from National Museums Liverpool.
There he had played key role in the development of the £76 million Museum of Liverpool and the delivery of the city’s programme as European Capital of Culture in 2008.
Telling his staff the news on Monday morning, Dr Murden said:
“It is with not inconsiderable sadness that I have to tell you all that I will be leaving Dorset Museum in December. I will be joining the National Motor Museum as their new Chief Executive.
"After everything that we have achieved together at Dorset Museum, this has not been an easy decision to make. However, as many of you will know both my academic area of expertise and my passion outside of work lies in motoring heritage, so I hope you will appreciate how the opportunity presented to me by the National Motor Museum proved irresistible
"Together we have made some fantastic achievements possible in our temporary exhibition programming, such as Pharaoh: King of Egypt and Dippy on Tour; with the collections we have managed to save for the county and the nation, like the Dewlish Roman mosaic and the Hardy Players theatre; and the final delivery of the £16.4 million Tomorrow’s Museum for Dorset capital project. I am, and will always remain, extremely proud of what we, as a team, have managed to create together, achievements that the people of Dorset will be able to enjoy and appreciate long into the future.”
Staff of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society who run the Museum were told of the news on Monday morning.
Everyone at the Society and the Wessex Museums Partnership, which Dorset Museum is a partner along with Salisbury Museum, Poole Museum and Wiltshire Museum wish Dr Murden all the very best in his new role starting in December.