Neil Cossons

Sir Neil Cossons OBE FSA FMA (born 15 January 1939) is a British historian and museum administrator. The son of a Nottinghamshire headmaster, Neil Cossons studied historical geography at university.

He was the first director of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust from 1971 and then at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich from 1983. From 1986 to 2000 he was the director of the Science Museum, London, UK. From 1989-95, and 1999-2000 he was an English Heritage commissioner. He was pro-provost and chairman of council of the Royal College of Art from 2007 until 2015. In 2000, he took over as chairman of English Heritage, a post he held to 2007.

He was one of the founders of the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) and its chairman from 1978 to 1983 when he was appointed president, a position he still holds. Cossons was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1982 and knighted for services to museums and the heritage in 1994. He was president of the Museums Association 1982/3 and is a fellow of the Museums Association (FMA) and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. A member of the Newcomen Society for the history of engineering and technology since 1963, Cossons was president from 2001–03 and awarded the society's Dickinson Memorial Medal in 2001. In 2016, he was appointed a Trustee of the National Heritage Memorial Fund/Heritage Lottery fund.

Other appointments include: president of the Association for Industrial Archaeology (1977–80); member of the Design Council (1990–94); non-executive director of British Waterways Board (1995-2001); Collier Professor in the Public Understanding of Science in the University of Bristol (2001–02); president of the Royal Geographical Society (2003-2006) He has been an honorary professor at the University of Birmingham since 1994. Cossons holds honorary doctorates from thirteen British universities, was awarded the President's Medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1993, and honorary fellow of RIBA in 2002.

Cossons is "Britain's leading authority on the industrial heritage" and has advised on matters of conservation and management widely in the UK and overseas. He has published and broadcast extensively in this field and is a sought after speaker internationally.