The Royal Academy of Arts announced today that Batia Ofer will take over as the new Chair of the Royal Academy Trust. Batia Ofer will replace Lady Alison Myners, who will step down as Chair after her five-year tenure. Sally Tennant will replace Rob Suss as Vice-Chair.
Batia Ofer’s appointment as Chair of the Royal Academy Trust will commence in December 2023.
Batia Ofer said: ‘I am very honoured to be selected as the new Chair of the Royal Academy Trust. The RA is such an important and unique institution, and I’m absolutely delighted to embark upon this new leadership role with Sally Tennant as Vice-Chair. I am excited at the prospects that lie ahead. I look forward to working with Rebecca Salter and Axel Rüger and truly believe we can achieve great things together. It is a great privilege to follow in the footsteps of Lady Alison Myners who has led the Trust so successfully over the last five years.’
Batia Ofer is an art collector, patron of the arts and philanthropist. In 2017, she established ‘Art of Wishes’, a charitable initiative that raises funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. To date, Art of Wishes has raised £9 million for the UK-based charity, which has resulted in over 3,000 wishes being granted to children living with critical illnesses.
She is also responsible for overseeing the ‘Idan and Batia Ofer Family Foundation’, the purpose of which is to support a range of causes across issues of health, inequality, education and culture. Examples of initiatives undertaken by the Foundation include: the construction of ‘The Sammy Ofer Centre’ for students at The London Business School and the establishment of a scholarship program for Israeli and Palestinian undergraduates at Harvard University.
Outside of these initiatives, Batia holds Board, Trustee and Advisory level positions at The Victoria & Albert Museum, Sotheby’s, The Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation and The Harvard Kennedy School. She has been a member of the Royal Academy Trust since 2019. Further, she has chaired the Education Committee at the Serpentine Gallery and consulted for Frieze Art Fair. Batia holds a degree in Business from York University, Canada.
