Most recently, Dame Diane Lees was Director-General of Imperial War Museums from October 2008 to March 2023. She now runs a charity advisory company.

Dame Diane Lees began her career as a historic buildings researcher and then moved into exhibitions, education and interpretation. She has worked on some of the most challenging and exciting projects in the country, including the rescue and relocation of a hat block manufacturer’s workshop in central Manchester, the recovery and display of the Mary Rose flagship in Portsmouth Harbour and the redisplay of the Nelson Galleries at the Royal Naval Museum. She project-managed the creation of the UK standard for the recording of information about museum collections (SPECTRUM) and was responsible for the creation of the only museum of law in the country, the multi-award-winning Galleries of Justice in Nottingham.

Since April 2018 she has been Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the University of Lincoln’s Board of Governors. She is a member of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and a Freeman of the City of London. She is also an Ambassador for the Halo Trust. She remains Emeritus Vice President for the American Air Museum in Britain and a member of the expert panel for the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

Dame Diane Lees was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list in January 2015 and a DBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list in January 2022 for services to museums. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Reading in July 2015 and an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree by Nottingham Trent University in June 2017.