World-renowned College for the Arts appoints Anna Gough-Yates as new CEO

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.

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 Gough-Yates

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.


West Dean London campus

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.
/ Alexander Barron, The outgoing CEO of West Dean College

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.
/ Professor Paul O’Prey CBE, Chair of West Dean College


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.