Professor Roger Bland OBE
Roger was awarded a CBE in the New Years Honours, 2025 for services to Heritage. He was educated at the Universities of Oxford and London and is a visiting Professor at the University of Leicester and Senior Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge. Roger worked at the British Museum (1979-2015), when he retired as Keeper of the Department of Prehistory, Britain and Europe. He was seconded to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (1994-2002) to advise on the passage of the Treasure Act 1996, and founded the Portable Antiquities Scheme, a nationwide network of c. 50 staff who record finds made by metal detector users and over one and three-quarter million finds are now recorded on the online database.
An expert on Roman coins, he was President of the British Numismatic Society (2011-2016) and the Royal Numismatic Society (2018-2023). He was awarded the President’s Medal of the British Academy in 2016 and the medals of the Royal Numismatic Society in 2013 and also of the French and American Numismatic Societies. He has written several books on Roman coins and coin hoards and has just completed Roman Imperial Coins IV.3, Gordian III-Aemilian (238-53). Roger has lived in Norfolk since 2017 and is a Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England.
Dr Megan Gooch
Dr Megan Gooch is the Head of the Centre for Digital Scholarship at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. Megan has been involved in coins since her undergraduate study at the University of Cambridge, followed by an MA and PhD at Durham University focusing on early medieval numismatics. She spent time as a British coin specialist at Spink & Son (2006-2008), and the Money Gallery Curator at the British Museum (2008-2010). She then moved to Historic Royal Palaces to curate the permanent exhibition The Tower’s Mint at the Tower of London, in partnership with the Royal Mint Museum.
Later roles focused on project management and production roles within Historic Royal Palaces in Learning and Public Engagement as well as being a Research Fellow on the AHRC-funded project Lest We Forget. Megan has served and continues to serve on many numismatic bodies and charities, including as a council member for the British Numismatic Society (2007-2013), autumn conference organiser for the British Association of Numismatic Societies (2008-2011), Money and Medals Subject Specialist Network Steering Committee member (2010-present), Honorary Secretary of the Royal Numismatic Society (2016–2022), and Vice-President of the Royal Numismatic Society (2023-Present).
Lucinda Orr
Lucinda Orr is a practising barrister, called to the Bar of England and Wales (2006), and a Partner in the disputes-only firm, Enyo Law LLP, based in the City of London. Lucinda specialises in international commercial litigation and civil fraud. She is currently the Treasurer of the Bar Council, and has previously chaired the Bar Association for Commerce, Finance and Industry (2012-2015) and the Employed Barristers’ Committee (2017-2019). She is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn, currently serving as Master of Scholarships.
In addition to her legal qualifications, she holds M.A. (2003) and M.St. (2004) degrees in History from Oxford University, where she was President of the Numismatic Society, the History Society, and the Young Friends of the Ashmolean Museum. She has archaeological experience from excavations at the Roman site, Tripontium, in the late 1990s, and cataloguing the coin finds.
Having been a keen collector of coins for over 35 years, Lucinda has been a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society and a member of the British Numismatic Society for 20 years. She also studies, collects and lectures on antique jewellery and is a Council Member of the Society of Jewellery Historians, and regularly contributes articles to Jewellery History Today.
Roger Bland, Megan Gooch and Lucinda Orr have been reappointed for a term of 5 years.
Roger Bland’s and Megan Gooch’s reappointment commenced on 6 August 2025 and Lucinda Orr’s reappointment commences on 22 October 2025.
Remuneration and Governance Code
The Chair and Trustee roles are not remunerated. This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election.
Roger Bland, Megan Gooch and Lucinda Orr have declared no such political activity.
Notes to Editors
DCMS has around 400 regulated Public Appointment roles across 42 Public Bodies including Arts Council England, Theatres Trust, the National Gallery, UK Sport and the Gambling Commission. We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. To find out more about Public Appointments or to apply visit the HM Government Public Appointments Website.
