Dame Elizabeth Anne Loosemore Esteve-Coll (née Kingdon; born 14 October 1938) is a British academic and former museum director and librarian. Career The daughter of a Darlington bank clerk, she was educated at Darlington High School, Trinity College, Dublin and Birkbeck College, London. Esteve-Coll was head of learning resources at Kingston Polytechnic from 1977, and in 1982 became the first female director of the University of Surrey Library. Esteve-Coll was the first woman director of a national arts collection when she was appointed as director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1987, succeeding Sir Roy Strong. She resigned in 1994, midway through her second term as director, to take up the Vice-Chancellorship of the University of East Anglia. Dr. Alan Borg succeeded her as its new director, taking the post on 1 October 1995. Esteve-Coll served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia from 1995 to 1997, but was forced to step down after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She said at the time: "It is with real sadness and disappointment that I must acknowledge that I am not able to lead the university into the 21st century." She served as Chancellor of University of Lincoln for seven years, as well as being a Trustee of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures since its foundation in Jan 1999. Honours Esteve-Coll received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in November 2005 in recognition of her "outstanding contribution to the promotion of Japanese culture and studies to British people". In November 2008, she was presented with an honorary doctorate of arts and the title chancellor emerita during her farewell ceremony at Lincoln Cathedral. Bibliography Books by My Bedside (1989) References External links IFLA Section of Art Libraries Annual Report — September 1997 – August 1998 Interview with Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll Elizabeth Esteve-Coll on Desert Island Discs 1938 births Living people English writers Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Directors of the Victoria and Albert Museum Vice-Chancellors of the University of East Anglia People associated with the University of Lincoln People from Darlington People with multiple sclerosis People associated with the Victoria and Albert Museum English librarians British women librarians Women museum directors