Dr Maria Balshaw CBE. Photo © Tate, Jai Monaghan

Following our announcement in January 2026 that Baroness Amos LG CH PC would be stepping down as Master of University College, we are delighted to announce that the College’s next Master will be Dr Maria Balshaw CBE, former Director of Tate galleries.

Dr Balshaw will take up the post on 1 September 2027, following Baroness Amos’ successful seven-year Mastership, and become the College’s second female head of house. Her long and varied career spans both academia and the cultural sector, and she brings with her a wealth of leadership experience.

Maria Balshaw began her academic career in 1993 as a lecturer in cultural studies at University College Northampton before moving to the University of Birmingham as a research fellow and lecturer in visual culture in 1997. In 2002 she became Director of Creative Partnerships in Birmingham, an action research programme bringing artists and schools together to support creative learning for young people.

In 2004, Maria was selected as a fellow for the Clore Leadership Programme, the UK’s first cross-disciplinary leadership initiative for the cultural sector. After completing the programme, she served as Regional Director for Creative Partnerships in the West Midlands and then as Director of External Relations and Development at Arts Council England (West Midlands).

Maria’s next move took her to the Whitworth Art Gallery, part of the University of Manchester, where she was Director before becoming joint Director of the Whitworth and the Manchester City Galleries in 2011. She also served as Director of Culture for Manchester City Council and was a member of the National Council of Arts Council England. Maria was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for Services to the Arts in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2015.

Maria Balshaw became Director of Tate in 2017 and was the first woman to take up the role, leading the family of galleries, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate St Ives and Tate Liverpool. During her leadership, Maria set a vision to widen access locally and globally to Tate’s bold artistic programme. She steered the organisation through the challenges of Covid‑19, while strengthening Tate’s collection through a greater focus on gender balance and global representation. She also worked with Tate’s Chair, Roland Rudd, to establish an endowment fund for the organisation’s long-term financial security.

She has overseen major projects such as Steve McQueen’s Year 3, a collective portrait of 76,000 London schoolchildren, and led the wider Tate programme which has included acclaimed group exhibitions such as Women in Revolt and Life Between Islands, alongside major solo shows for artists such as Leigh Bowery and Emily Kam Kngwarray. In 2022, alongside her role at Tate, Maria was appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge, delivering a series of public lectures at Murray Edwards College, where she became a Life Fellow. The lectures formed the basis of her book, Gathering of Strangers: Why Museums Matter, published in 2024.

After nine years as Director of Tate, Maria stepped down in April 2026 and concluded her tenure by curating Tracey Emin: A Second Life at Tate Modern (27 February – 31 August 2026), a landmark retrospective spanning 40 years of the artist’s work. More recently, Maria has been appointed to the board of University of the Arts London (UAL) and will take up the role of  deputy chair designate of the court of governors in September 2026.

Maria Balshaw said,
“I am excited and delighted to be taking up the role of Master of University College, Oxford. The College has long embodied a genuinely inclusive spirit and has worked to ensure that the highest performing students, from the widest range of backgrounds, find their personal and intellectual home within the College walls. It’s an attitude that connects to my own career-long commitment to widening access to the arts. I look forward to building on the considerable achievements of Baroness Valerie Amos and to embody, as Master, the spirited, welcoming environment that characterises life at Univ.”

Professor Peter Jezzard, Vice-Master of University College, Oxford, said,
“We are thrilled to have elected Maria Balshaw as our next Master. She brings substantial experience of leadership of prominent cultural institutions and has a background as an academic from her time at University College Northampton, the University of Birmingham and the University of Manchester. We greatly look forward to welcoming her as Master in 2027, and hope that she will feel welcome to join us in the meantime, when possible, to get to know the College and its community.”

Dr Maria Balshaw will be visiting Univ in the coming year to meet with Baroness Amos and to familiarise herself with the College. We look forward to welcoming her as she prepares to take up the role of Master ahead of her official arrival in September 2027.

Published: 23 June 2026

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