The Executive Management Group (EMG), comprising the Director, two Deputy Directors, the Chief Operating Officer and an Associate Director, provides strategic and operational leadership for the Museum.
Dr Mathew Trinca was appointed Director of the National Museum of Australia in February 2014. His current term of appointment is for a period of five years. Dr Trinca was the Acting Director of the National Museum from 2 July 2013. Before that time he was an Assistant Director with responsibility for collections acquisition, management and preservation; redevelopment of permanent galleries; temporary and travelling exhibitions; and curatorial and research activities. Dr Trinca has published papers on the history of Australian travel to London and on museums and their meaning, and has co-edited two books, Country: Visions of Land and People in Western Australia (2002) and Under Suspicion: Citizenship and Internment in Australia during the Second World War (2008). He is the secretary of Museums Australia’s National Council Executive.
Dr Janda Gooding was appointed Deputy Director, Collections, Content and Exhibitions, in August 2014. Previously, she worked at the Australian War Memorial (2005–14) and at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (1979–2005), where she curated many thematic, retrospective and survey exhibitions of Australian and international artists. She has written extensively on Australian social and cultural history, and on art history, including chapters on photography and digital technologies, and on Thomas Baines and the Augustus Gregory expedition of 1855–57. Dr Gooding has written books including Gallipoli Revisited: In the Footsteps of Charles Bean and the Australian Historical Mission and Brush with Gondwana: The Botanical Artists Group, Western Australia.
Mr David Arnold was appointed Deputy Director, Programs and Engagement, in June 2016. He previously worked as the Head of the Museum’s Learning Services and Community Outreach section for three years and as the Museum’s Manager of Education for 12 years. His long involvement and interest in teaching led him to become a member of the Australian Government’s national history curriculum advisory group and president of the Museums Australia Education National Network, a position he held for four years. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Parliamentary Education Office at Parliament House, and also worked as a Senate Committees senior research officer.
Ms Stephanie Bull was appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer in 2016, and oversees the delivery of corporate functions at the Museum, and the development of the Cultural and Corporate Shared Services Centre. Ms Bull commenced her public sector career in the Department of Defence, before moving to the Australian War Memorial. She joined the Museum in 2004, managing the Museum’s exhibitions and gallery redevelopment program, and went on to expand the Museum’s international exhibitions and partnerships program.
Ms Ruth Wilson was appointed Associate Director, Visitor Services and Development, on 1 February 2016, having previously worked at the National Portrait Gallery. Ms Wilson has an extensive background in both the private and public sectors, including a wealth of cultural agency experience from her time at the National Gallery of Australia, and more recently at the National Portrait Gallery.
