Recruited from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 1978, Edmund Capon was director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales for over three decades, stepping down in 2011. He is credited with transforming the Sydney institution, in particular with the growing success of the annual Archibald prize for portraiture competition. Capon was recently appointed Chair of the Australian Institute of Architects' new philanthropic foundation, designed to promote the value of architecture and design to the wider community, and is also Chair of the Board of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.