The British Museum has appointed Carl Heron as its interim deputy editor after Jonathan Williams “stepped back” from the position after reports that the institution’s management ignored warnings about stolen and missing items from its collection.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the museum’s chairman, George Osborne, informed the institution’s staff about the appointment in an email, which first reported the news. Osborne said Heron would be in the position on a temporary basis, and called him a “highly-respected authority within the museum.”
Heron has worked at the museum since 2016 as its director of scientific research, a role funded by the London-based health research foundation the Wellcome Trust. Prior to the British Museum, Heron was the head of archaeological sciences at the University of Bradford, where his work focused on identifying ancient organic matter preserved in association with archaeological materials.
The announcement from Osborne means Heron is effectively the interim leader of the British Museum after Hartwig Fischer resigned as director on August 25. Fischer had previously announced in July he would be stepping away from the position in 2024.
