The Ashmolean Museum, the University of Oxford’s museum of art and archaeology, is to rename two of its galleries and two job titles, removing the Sackler name.
The change comes after Oxford University’s review of its relationship with the Sackler family and their trusts, including the way their benefactions to the University are recognised.
Legal battles over the Sackler family’s role in the US opioid epidemic have prompted the removal of the name from galleries, rooms and plaques in museums in recent years.
The museum becomes the latest to remove reference to the Sackler family in recognition of their donations, following similar moves by the V&A, Louvre and the British Museum.
The Ashmolean Museum will remove the Sackler name from what is currently the Sackler Rome Gallery and Sackler Gallery of Life after Death in Ancient Egypt. It will also change the name of two posts at the museum, Sackler Keeper of Antiquities and Sackler Learning Officer.
The Sackler Library will also be renamed, becoming the Bodleian Art, Archaeology and the Ancient World Library.
The museum said the review outcomes have had the full support of the Sackler family and were approved by the University Council yesterday, 15 May 2023.
The Sackler name will be retained on the Ashmolean Museum’s donor board, a decision it said was “for the purposes of historical recording of donations to the University”.
The museum said all donations received from the Sackler family and their trusts will be retained by the University for their intended educational purposes, and no new donations have been received from either the family or their trusts since January 2019.
