West Dean College is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Anna Gough-Yates as its CEO to develop and shape the future of the world-renowned College for arts, design, craft and conservation. Anna joins West Dean from the University of Roehampton, where she has held the post of  Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Provost for the past six years. 

With over 30 years of experience in higher education, Anna has an impressive track record of successful academic leadership. At Roehampton, her responsibilities have encompassed education, research, external engagement, partnerships, academic development and sustainability. She studied history of art, design and architecture at the University of East Anglia, and gained her PhD from the University of Birmingham. Her research focuses on representations of the feminine in contemporary culture.

Anna Gough-Yates said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining this incredible institution, at this exciting stage of its development. West Dean occupies a unique position in the landscape of arts, design, craft and conservation education in the UK and internationally. I relish the opportunity to build on its extraordinary  legacy to ensure an equally dynamic future for the College.”

Anna takes up the position at a pivotal stage in West Dean’s development. Since opening in 1971 as a centre for education and training in conservation and the visual and applied arts, the College has built a global reputation as a home for groundbreaking creativity. This reputation was cemented further in 2021 through the acquisition of KLC School of Design, adding a new School of Design to the existing School of Arts and School of Conservation. The broadening of the academic and short courses offer and subsequent introduction of a new brand design, was followed by a physical expansion in spring 2024 with the opening of West Dean’s London campus in Bloomsbury, in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter.

The outgoing CEO of West Dean College, Alexander Barron, said: 

“I am extremely pleased to be handing over to Anna Gough-Yates. It has genuinely been the experience of a lifetime to lead the organisation for close to a decade. With a uniquely broad range of courses and a study environment that now spans the city and the countryside, I have no doubt that an exciting future lies ahead for the College. I wish Anna all the best in building on the vision of expansion we set out in 2017 to increase entry points and study pathways for students, invest in outreach and campus development, and build a growing network of partnerships nationally and internationally.” 

Chair of West Dean College, Professor Paul O’Prey CBE, said: 

“I am extremely grateful to Alexander Barron for his nearly two decade contribution to West Dean’s thriving creative community and his leadership during the last nine years which has seen the College expand and establish itself as one of the most exciting places worldwide for students to discover their creative voices. 

As we look towards the next phase in the College’s development, we are thrilled that Anna will be bringing her wealth of experience and energy to the team at West Dean. We are thoroughly looking forward to shaping West Dean’s future with her.”

For further information, please contact Miles & Helena at MAP.
Helena Zedig   
[email protected]
0044 7803 596 587 

Miles Evans 
[email protected]
0044 7812 985 993

Notes to Editors 

About West Dean College

West Dean College was founded by Edward James, a poet and patron of the Surrealist Movement who bequeathed his West Sussex family estate to become a centre for education and training in the arts, especially historic craft and conservation practices he feared might be lost to humanity. Since opening in 1971, the College has built a global reputation as a home for groundbreaking creativity, offering a wide range of full and part time courses across the arts, design, craft and conservation on its campus nestled in the inspiring natural realm of the West Sussex countryside and, since 2024, at its new urban outpost in central London.

While the tutors are all renowned experts in their field, notable alumni range from award-winning painters and ceramic artists to BBC Repair Shop presenters. West Dean’s sustained commitment to craft and endangered heritage skills has underpinned the growth of arts and crafts in the UK and internationally. Founded on the belief that making makes life better, West Dean embraced the health and environmental benefits of making long before the current vogue for craft as a mindfulness outlet. In 2021,West Dean merged with the renowned KLC School of Design, and in 2024 opened a campus in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter. 

Notably West Dean College houses one of the only professional tapestry studios in the UK, known for its collaboration with artists such as Howard Hodgkin, Eva Rothschild, Tracey Emin, Martin Creed and Michael Armitage and for weaving the Henry Moore Tapestries and other commissions for the likes of the Houses of Parliament and Historic Scotland (The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry project, the biggest weaving project undertaken in the UK for 100 years). West Dean College  also houses an impressive Collection and Archive, open to the public through tours, which includes one of the most important collections of  Surrealist artworks and objects, collected by Edward James who was a friend, patron and collaborator of leading Surrealist artists, including Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Leonora Carrington and Leonor Fini.

About Anna Gough-Yates

Professor Anna Gough-Yates was most recently Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at the University of Roehampton. She joined Roehampton in 2015 and served in various leadership positions, including Head of the Department of Media, Culture and Language, and Deputy Provost (Academic Development). In her Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost role, Anna was responsible for the University's education, research, knowledge exchange, and academic partnership strategies and activities.

Anna began her academic career as an art and design historian, gradually moving her research into visual culture and media and cultural studies. She earned her PhD in Cultural Studies from the University of Birmingham in 2000, focusing on the womens' magazine industry in the UK. Her research interests have focused on feminism, femininity and representation in the creative industries. She has a strong interest in teaching and learning in higher education and was awarded a Master's in Education in 2004.

Prior to working at Roehampton, Anna launched the London School of Film Media and Design at the University of West London, and before that she was Associate Dean (Research and Partnerships) and Head of School of Media, Culture and Communications at London Metropolitan University.