Michael A. Fopp is a retired National Museum Director. Michael Fopp is the son of an Australian

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

fighter pilot. He grew up surrounded by aeroplanes, but left the

Reading Blue Coat School ('Truth Conquers All) , established = , closed = , type = Independent day school Public school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...

to follow a childhood dream of riding horses professionally. He was a member of the Mounted Branch of London’s

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

for over 10 years. Those years were spent leading major ceremonial celebrations, carrying out duties during riots and other public disorder events. All this ended when he was seriously assaulted by rioters in 1979, an event so serious as to cause the death of

Blair Peach Clement Blair Peach (25 March 1946 – 24 April 1979) was a New Zealand teacher who was killed during an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, London, England. A campaigner and activist against the far right, in April 1979 Peach took part in a ...

and injury to many others. During his Police career he had special permission to lecture and write about aviation history and, almost immediately after his hospitalisation joined the Royal Air Force Museum as Keeper of the Battle of Britain Collection in 1979. In 1984 he was awarded a master's degree by

City University London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

for whom he was a visiting lecturer in Management Studies for 9 years. In 1985 he was appointed Director of the

London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...

. He returned to the Royal Air Force Museum as Director in 1988 and finished his thesis "Museum & Gallery Management" gaining his PhD in 1989. He was the Director General of the RAF Museum's three sites – Hendon (London), Cosford and Stafford, all of which expanded significantly during his tenure of over 22 years – retiring in 2010. Michael is an aviation historian (RAF History 1936–1955), not-for-profit management specialist and information technologist. He is a Fellow of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...

and the

Museums Association The Museums Association (MA) is a professional membership organisation based in London for museum, gallery and heritage professionals, museums, galleries and heritage organisations, and companies that work in the museum, gallery and heritage s ...

, past Council Member of

The Air League The Air League is an aviation and aerospace non-profit organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest provider of aviation and aerospace scholarships and bursaries. The Air League aims to inspire, enable, and support the next ...

, and holds both Commercial and Instrument ratings for single engined aircraft. He is a Past Master of

the Honourable Company of Air Pilots The Honourable Company of Air Pilots, formerly the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN), is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company was founded in 1929, and became a Livery Company in 1956. Elizabeth II granted ...

, a City of London Livery Company. He is past Chairman of the Air Safety Trust and the Air Pilots Trust, charities supporting flying scholarships, air safety and research. For many years he spent his spare time flying a

Lancair Lancair International, Inc. (pronounced ''"lance-air"'') is a U.S. manufacturer of general aviation aircraft kits. They are well known for their series of high-performance single-engine aircraft that offer cruise speeds that surpass many tw ...

aircraft which he built himself over a period of 8 years. In 'retirement' he is in demand as a public speaker and lecturer in both aviation/transport history and management/leadership studies. He maintains an enthusiasm and deep interest in computers, computer programming and the future technologies associated with these interests – he is also a keen chef and model racing yacht skipper. He writes prolifically and his book ''Managing Museums & Galleries'', published by Routledge,Managing Museums & Galleries; Routledge was the first book to provide the reader with museum/gallery specific solutions to management problems. He is currently working on an academic study of the home-built aircraft movement. In 2018 his book ''Spirit of the Royal Air Force – An anthology in words and works of art'' was published to celebrate the centenary of the RAF. He is a member of the Royal Air Squadron, and the

Light Aircraft Association The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) is the representative body in the United Kingdom for amateur aircraft construction, and recreational and sport flying. It oversees the construction and maintenance of homebuilt aircraft, under an approval from t ...

. He is married to Rosemary who is also a private pilot and has one son who is a serving officer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. In 2011, he was given an Award of Doctor of Science ''honoris causa'' by

. He is in great demand as an enrichment speaker on a number of ocean cruise lines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fopp, Michael A. Directors of museums in the United Kingdom English curators Living people Year of birth missing (living people)