Douglas Gurr appointed to the National Gallery Board
The Prime Minister has appointed Douglas Gurr as a Trustee of the National Gallery for a term of four years, commencing on 23 January 2019.
Doug is Country Manager of Amazon UK. He joined Amazon in December 2011 and was President of Amazon China from 2014 to 2016.His previous roles included teaching mathematics and computing at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, working for the UK Government, partner at consultancy firm McKinsey, founder and CEO of internet start-up Blueheath and 5 years on the Board of Asda-Walmart. Doug has two degrees in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, and PhD in Computing from the University of Edinburgh. Outside work, Doug is Chairman of the British Heart Foundation, and a Trustee of the Landmark Trust, non-executive Director of the Land Registry and was until 2014 Chairman of the Science Museum Group of national museums. He is a former Scottish international triathlete, 12 times Ironman, keen ski mountaineer with over 20 first ascents, and an enthusiastic mountain runner, recently completing the Bob Graham 24hr Round, the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, and the Spine Challenger. Doug was born in the UK but his parents were New Zealanders and he grew up mostly in Africa before returning to the UK to attend high school and college. He is married with two children.
This role is not remunerated. This reappointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Doug has made no such declaration.