Our Board of Trustees

Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy GCB CBE DSO

Chair of Trustees

Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy was born in 1953 and joined the Royal Air Force in 1974 after achieving a First in Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College, London.

His operational flying career included two tours flying the Jaguar in the reconnaissance and attack roles, a tour as a Qualified Weapons Instructor on the Hawk and command of a Tornado GR1A tactical reconnaissance squadron. In this latter role he saw active service during the First Gulf War, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. In 1994 he assumed command of Royal Air Force Bruggen in Germany, the largest Tornado base in the Royal Air Force.

During his subsequent career he served as Assistant Chief of Staff J3 (Operations) in the PJHQ, Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) in MOD, Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group (when he was also the UK Air Component Commander for the Second Gulf War) and Chief of Joint Operations in the PJHQ. He took over as Chief of the Air Staff in 2006 and retired from the Royal Air Force in 2009. He joined BAE Systems as Senior Military Advisor in 2011 and became Chairman of Trustees of the RAF Museum in 2012. Sir Glenn is married to Christine, and for relaxation enjoys playing golf, gardening, cabinet making and reading about military history. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Aeronautical Society and City and Guilds Institute, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers.

Peter Bateson

Peter Bateson Peter has a Law degree and is a Chartered Accountant. After qualifying he worked for Chevron Oil Europe, before returning to the profession. He was an Assurance Partner with EY for 20 years, working mainly with large international groups, most of whom were listed, managing teams in multiple locations. He has advised companies across a range of industry sectors including Aerospace and Defence, Logistics, Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, and Technology. The services he provided included assurance, advising on risk and governance, support with acquisitions, disposals and raising capital. In addition, he also held a number of different internal management positions in his office, including office staff partner and office head of audit.

He was the assurance partner for a charity, and was involved with its transition from public ownership to gaining charitable status. He has also worked with a grant in aid body. For three years Peter was a member of the audit committee of a Housing Association with over 15,000 units. He became a Trustee of the RAF Museum in 2016.

Laurie Benson

Laurie Benson is CEO of Upnexxt Ltd, a media consultancy specialising in business transformation and new digital business models. Her clients include legacy media companies as well as digital start-ups. In addition, she is a regular industry speaker. Laurie has extensive experience in television, print, digital and event media in both the U.S. and Europe, Middle East, Africa.

Ms. Benson served as Publisher for Time Magazine in Europe, Middle East, Africa. She then led the commercial activities of Bloomberg’s Publishing and Digital operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa. She sits on the board of The Medical Algorithms Company.

Dr Carol Cole

Dr Carol Cole Carol joined the Museum as a Trustee in 2013 and is Chair of its Staffing and Remuneration Committee.

Carol runs her own consultancy in organisation development and change management and has extensive experience of strategy, leadership and governance. A key area of expertise is in applying psychology to the design and implementation of major strategic initiatives to enhance business and team effectiveness. She has worked with numerous organisations at board level across the public and private sectors, from blue-chips to charities, and led successful international consulting projects and global leadership programmes in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Carol is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Non-Executive Director at Central London Community NHS Trust and a Trustee of Action on Hearing Loss. She was previously the senior independent director at Hounslow and Richmond NHS Trust, Vice Chair of Deafness Research UK and Vice Chair of the Association of Business Psychologists.

Dr Rodney Eastwood

Dr Rodney Eastwood was Secretary of Imperial College London from October 2007 to April 2012 and before that held various posts in the College in strategic planning and management information. Prior to joining the College, he worked at the Natural History Museum, finishing as Assistant to the Director.

Rodney is currently a non-executive Director of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, a trustee of the London school of ESCP Europe Business School, a member of the Board of Trustees of the RAF Museum, a governor of Chelsea Academy and the Audit Chair of the Society of Biology.

He was awarded an MBE for services to higher education in the June 2012 honours list.