The judging panel for the fourth Gulbenkian Prize for Museum of the Year was announced on 15 November 2005. Chaired by Professor Lord Winston, the eminent scientist and broadcaster, the panel represents a wide range of artistic and academic interests and museum expertise. It comprises:

Michael Day started his museum career in Norwich in the 1970s before moving in 1983 to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum as Curator of Social History.

In 1987, he was appointed Director of the Jersey Heritage Trust, where he was responsible for four museums, two castles and the island’s national archive. Achievements in Jersey included winning the Museum of the Year Award twice.

In 2003, he became Chief Executive of Historic Royal Palaces, the charitable trust which includes the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace.

He was project monitor for the Heritage Lottery Fund on the new National Maritime Museum Cornwall, and has been an occasional consultant over the last decade on other museum projects and to cultural organisations on strategic management issues.

Ekow Eshun is a writer, journalist and broadcaster and has recently been appointed artistic director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. He grew up in England and Ghana and studied politics and history at the London School of Economics.

At 28 he became the youngest ever editor of Arena Magazine and was named by The Evening Standard as one of Britain’s most talented people under the age of 30. In 2000 Eshun was awarded, alongside Jon Snow, the Christian Aid Lifestyle Award at The One World Broadcasting Trust’s Media Awards for the documentary Living on the Line made for Channel 4.

He makes regular appearances on BBC’s Newsnight Review, Daily Politics, and BBC Radio’s Front Row as well as writing for a range of publications. His debut book, Black Gold of the Sun, charted a search for his roots in Ghana and was published earlier this year by Penguin.

Diane Lees is the Director of the V&A Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green and chairs the V&A’s UK Steering Group. Beginning as an historic buildings researcher and moving into exhibitions, education and interpretation, she has worked on some of the most exciting projects in the country, including the rescue and relocation of a hat block manufacturer’s workshop in central Manchester and the recovery and display of the Mary Rose ship in Portsmouth Harbour.

She is a trustee of the Story Museum in Oxford, a trustee of Discover in East London and Vice Chair of the Association of Independent Museums, and has recently retired as the Institutional Vice President of the Museums Association.

For many years Elizabeth Mackenzie was a Consultant Cytopathologist in Bristol, and Secretary and finally President of the British Society for Clinical Cytology. Since retiring from full-time work she has been appointed Assessor for Cytopathology to all BUPA hospitals.

Her interest in museums and galleries has been lifelong; she was a founder member and Chairman of the Friends of Bristol City Museums and Art Galleries, and was elected Chairman of the British Association of Friends of Museums (BAFM) in 1998.

Dr Mackenzie, who was also a member of the judging panel in 2005, stood down from the 2006 panel at short list stage because she is a trustee of the ss Great Britain. She took no part in the judges’ long-listing or short-listing discussions concerning ss Great Britain and did not attend the meeting to decide the winner.

Joanna Moorhead is a journalist and author.  She writes mostly for The Guardian, where for the last four years she has written a regular series on museums and art galleries suitable for families.

She is also a contributor to the Independent, the Independent on Sunday and the Observer, and she writes for magazines including Junior and Easy Living.

She has specialised for several years in writing about parenting, and her books include a history of childbirth since the foundation of the NHS.

After studying history at Balliol College, Oxford, Dan Snow was asked by the BBC to co present the 60th anniversary programme of the Battle of El Alamein in November 2002. Straight away the BBC asked for another eight programmes on great battles of British history.

This series Battlefield Britain was transmitted in summer 2004 and another series on 20 th century world battles is in production for next summer. In between filming battles Dan has worked with BBC special events to commemorate occasions such as Trafalgar and VE/J day, and is also working on a programme about land ownership in Britain.

Robert Winston is Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College, London University, and Director of NHS Research and Development for Hammersmith Hospital, one of the UK’s leading medical research centres. He is also Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University.

As a peer he takes the Government Whip (Lord Winston of Hammersmith since 1995) and speaks regularly in the House of Lords on education, science, medicine and the arts. He was the recent Chairman of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology and is a board member of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.

Robert Winston is regular BBC presenter. Series include The Human Body (three BAFTAs and a Peabody award), Child of our Time, Threads of Life and Human Instinct. He recently presented The Human Mind on BBC 1, and has also written the accompanying book, which is out now in paperback from Transworld.

His science book for children, What Makes Me Me was awarded this year’s Junior Aventis prize. His next project for the BBC is Story Of God, a history of God and religion.