Wellcome Trust Corporate Archive

The archive documents the formation, development and work of the Wellcome Trust as an independent charitable foundation dedicated to improving health through research from its inception in 1936 to the present day. It provides evidence of the Trust's international role in the landscape of health and charts the delivery of its mission and areas of interest through time, including pharmacology and tropical medicine; veterinary medicine; the history of medicine as an academic discipline; clinical trials; mental health; public engagement and infectious diseases.

The archive contains records relating to the governance and management of the Trust, it's grant funding work and internally funded activities carried out to further the Trust's charitable aims, including policy research and advocacy, supporting science education, public engagement and museum, library and collecting activities. The archive also contains records of the Trust's investments function and other support activities, such as finance, communications and media and public relations, as well as material that documents staff activities and experiences at the Trust.

Where original file names have been retained, these are indicated by quotation marks in the catalogue titles.

Uncatalogued material
This collection contains both catalogued and uncatalogued materials. A summary of the uncatalogued materials in this collection is provided below under 'Accruals'. Section E of this collection is also currently uncatalogued. This section contains papers of the Hague Club, 1971-1976 (10 boxes) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, 1941-1991 (11 boxes). Please contact collections@wellcomecollection.org for more information or to request access to uncatalogued material.

Section A: Governance and corporate management

At series level, and occasionally at item level, catalogue records have been linked to "authority files" to capture information about individuals, departments and other entities related to those records. Where listed, click on any of the "Associated Person Entries" beneath the catalogue description to view information and related entities.

Acc 2137: Books formerly owned by Dr Peter Williams, the first Director of the Wellcome Trust, including some relating to Wellcome (20th century). 3 boxes, 1 print.

Acc 2397: Wellcome Trust grant files (1930s-2000s). c.1300 boxes.

Acc 2432: Records of the Hague Club, an association of European foundation directors (1970s). 3 boxes.

Acc 2442: Records relating to the Wellcome Collection exhibition 'Bedlam: the asylum and beyond' (15 September 2016-15 January 2017). 3 files.

Acc 2443: Wellcome Collection promotional materials (2000s-2010s). 2 folders.

Acc 2444: Wellcome Trust medal dies. 1 box.

Acc 2445: Wellcome Trust and Wellcome Collection printed ephemera (2017-2018). 1 folder.

Acc 2446: Press records relating to the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus (1990s). 8 Betacam tapes, 1 VHS and 1 brochure.

Acc 2449: Outputs from Wellcome Trust-funded public engagement projects (c.2001-c.2015). 2 files, 1 box.

Acc 2464: Printed and digital materials relating to DAYLIGHTING, a Wellcome Collection public programme centred on the collaborative newspaper artwork DAYLIGHT. The event was curated by artists Amy Sharrocks, Clare Qualmann and Madeline Hodge (2018). 1 oversize folder, 7 digital items.

Acc 2468: Wellcome Trust and Wellcome Collection printed ephemera (2018). 1 folder.

Acc 2470: Interpretation guide for the Wellcome Collection Medicine Man gallery (2015).

Acc 2473: Colour sectional drawing of an 'Artesian Tube Well ... at the Wellcome Foundation Research Building. Euston Road, N.W.1.' (1931). 1 item.

Acc 2475: Records of the Wellcome Images department and analogue corporate photography (c.1990s-2000), 6 boxes, 33 binders, 3 albums.

Acc 2479: Essays commissioned for the BBC Radio 3 Contagious Cities project (2018). 22 digital files.

Acc 2486: Portrait and interview of Louise Quarmby created for Wellcome Collection's 'Teeth' exhibition (2018). 2 digital files.

Acc 2487: Records relating to Wellcome Trust finance and office procedures (c.1980s). 1 box.

Acc 2491: Wellcome Trust Science Policy Information Newsletter, issues 1 to 1221 [final issue] (2008-2015). c.3,000 digital files.

Acc 2492: Digital records relating to the development of "Wellcome's World" on the former Wellcome Library website (2010s). 19 digital files.

Acc 2496: Digital records relating to the planning, delivery and evaluation of Wellcome Collection exhibitions (2010s). 4,929 digital files.

Acc 2497: Wellcome Collection exhibition programmes, guides and publications (2010s). 1 folder.

Acc 2499: Wellcome Library departmental reviews (1991-2003). 10 digital files.

Acc 2517: Internal and external Wellcome Trust and Wellcome Collection printed materials (2012-2019). 1 folder.

Acc 2518: Wellcome Trust intranet records (2010-2015). 2 digital files.

Acc 2519: Wellcome Trust reports for internal and external audiences on supporting science education, policy work, the Wellcome Global Monitor, the Wellcome Success Framework and the Wellcome Trust staff survey (2001-2019). 338 digital files.

Acc 2534: Audio recording of artist Anthony Gormley discussing the concept of 'the body', created for the Wellcome Collection exhibition 'Medicine Now' (c.2006). 1 digital file.

Acc 2535: Physical and digital records relating to Sheep Pig Goat, a Wellcome Collection-commissioned performance project by Fevered Sleep (c.2017). 1 box and 91 digital files.

Acc 2553: Departmental records, publications and printed materials relating to the Wellcome Library and Wellcome Trust Information Service, including administrative records for "What the papers say" news monitoring service (1990s-2010s). 7 boxes and 217 digital files.

Acc 2557: Physical and digital records relating to Mosaic, the Wellcome Trust's online science magazine (2010-2019). 1 box and 1,247 digital files.

Acc 2567: Records relating to the Wellcome Trust's Contagious Cities international collaborative project (2018-2019). 1 folder and 250 digital files.

Acc 2571: Transcripts of witness seminars on changes in Maharashtra's health system since the 1980s. The seminars supported by the Wellcome Trust (2019). 1 folder.

Acc 2572: Wellcome Trust and Wellcome Collection printed ephemera (2015-2019). 1 folder.

Acc 2581: Audience responses collected during a live programming event run in association with Wellcome Collection's 'Misbehaving Bodies' exhibition, on display from 30 May 2019 to 26 January 2020 (2019-2020). 2 folders and 2 digital files.

Acc 2584: Wellcome Trust Contemporary Medical Archives Centre (CMAC) and Western Manuscripts department (WMMS) records (1970s-2000s). 1 box.

Acc 2589: Internal Wellcome Trust communications regarding the then-emerging COVID-19 infection, (c. Jan-March 2020). 8 digital files and 1 poster.

Acc 2595: Digital photographs of the Wellcome Trust headquarters during the COVID-19 building closure (March 2020). 11 digital files.

Acc 2596: Digital recordings of the Wellcome Trust Cloud9Online staff chat show (20 March-11 December 2020). 26 digital files.

Acc 2598: Reports, news, press releases and webpages captured from the Wellcome Trust website (https://wellcome.ac.uk/) (2000s-2020). 1,148 digital files.

Acc 2601: Two zines documenting experiences during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown, created by a Wellcome Trust staff member and their daughter (2020). 2 items.

Acc 2602: Personal digital diary entry documenting a Wellcome Trust staff member's experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and remote working (2020). 1 digital file.

Acc 2603: Records relating to the development and launch of the Wellcome Trust's first Trans Inclusion Policy and Trans Inclusion Guidance (2019-2020). 355 digital files.

Acc 2604: Digital photograph taken by a Wellcome Trust staff member on public transport in London showing social distancing signage during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). 1 digital file.

Acc 2606: Forum piece written by a Wellcome Trust staff member for Wellcome's (then named) BAME network in response to the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). 1 digital file.

Acc 2607: "Mark Thomas's lockdown check-up", a six-part podcast series commissioned by Wellcome Collection and written and presented by Mark Thomas plus records relating to the planning and promotion of the series (June-September 2020). 14 digital files.

Acc 2610: Digital PDF artwork for Wellcome Collection's "What's On" leaflet, covering April to June 2020. This PDF was created Jan-March 2020 but was not distributed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and closure of Wellcome's buildings (March 2020). 1 digital file.

Acc 2616: Digital records and emails created and collated by Simon Chaplin in his roles as Head of Wellcome Library (Feb 2010-Oct 2014) and Wellcome Trust Director of Culture and Society (Oct 2014-Aug 2020). 643 digital files.

Acc 2618: Wellcome Library Wordpress blog XML and CSV exports containing blog content and associated metadata (c.2012-2018). 2 digital files.

Acc 2619: Digital video recording of a Wellcome Collection Inspiring Our Practice session titled "The Reading Room Frieze" plus transcript and intranet article (April 2021). 3 digital files.

Acc 2621: Analogue photographic material and associated cataloguing metadata created by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and Wellcome Medical Photographic Library, later inherited and managed by Wellcome Images from 2007 to 2017. Comprises "F" (Microfilm) series reels and cataloguing metadata; "L" (Library) series negatives and cataloguing metadata; "M" (Museum) series glass plate negatives; and "V" (Videodisc) series negatives and transparencies. 790 glass plate negative boxes; 88 negative boxes; 47 lever arch files; 25 ring binders; 9 filing cabinets; 7 volumes; 5 transfer boxes; 2 trays.

Acc 2623: Email updates on the COVID-19 pandemic sent by by Jeremy Farrar, then Wellcome Trust Director, to Wellcome's Board of Governors and Executive Leadership Team from January 2020 to June 2021 (2020-2021). 1 PDF.

Acc 2624: Records relating to Heart N Soul's residency at The Hub at Wellcome Collection (Oct 2018 - Jun 2021), a research project funded by the Wellcome Trust Hub Award exploring ideas around human value, difference and love from the perspective of people with learning disabilities and autism. (2018-2021). 1 outsize box, 2 outsize folders and 897 digital files.

Acc 2625: Episodes 1-4 of the Wellcome Trust's LGBTQ+ staff network podcast series and related intranet articles (2020-2021). 8 digital files.

Acc 2628: Women of Wellcome (WoW) 'Covid life' profiles, exploring experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Written by members of the WoW staff network and published on the intranet. (2021). 25 digital files.

Acc 2635: Recording of Khairani Barokka in conversation with Bárbara Rodríguez Muñoz, discussing the Wellcome-commissioned work 'Molekuler'. This Live Programme event was broadcast on YouTube on 17 June 2021 (2021). 1 digital file.

Acc 2640: Digital records relating to the development and implementation of the Wellcome Trust's new organisational strategy in 2021 (2021). 1,214 digital files.

Acc 2643: Organisational records, transferred from the Wellcome Trust's records management function, documenting governance, funding, communications and publishing, public engagement work, the library and museum, exhibitions and public programmes, history of medicine academia, and the Trust's buildings and facilities (1990s-2000s with some earlier material). 1,181 boxes.

Acc 2645: Records relating to the Wellcome Trust Strategy Review and Organisation Design (2021), 592 digital files.

Acc 2650: Digital organisational records relating to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Wellcome Trust and Wellcome's internal and external activities in response to the pandemic (2020-2022). 557 digital files.

Acc 2655: Speeches and presentations by Mark Walport (c.2003-2004). 180 digital files.

Acc 2662: Wellcome Trust Board of Governors digital meeting papers (December 2004). 27 digital files.

Acc 2663: Architectural slides of the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus (c.2000s). 1 file.

Acc 2671: Wellcome Images 'D' and 'S' series cataloguing metadata. 2 volumes and 2 digital files.

Acc 2672: Sotheby's inventory and valuation of Wellcome's collections (August 1981). 1 folder.

Acc 2675: Wellcome Trust and Wellcome Collection printed ephemera (2010-2020). 1 folder.

Acc 2682: Digital records of the Global Forum on Bioethics in Research (GFBR) whilst its Secretariat was based at the Wellcome Trust (2014-2021). 989 digital files.

Acc 2687: Four digital films commissioned by Wellcome Collection exploring encounters with materials in Wellcome's collections. Created by Unlimited artists fang0.co and moondept.co; Rhiannon Armstrong; Nye Russell-Thompson aka StammerMouth; and Kristina Veasey (c.2022). 9 digital files.

Acc 2690: Wellcome Trust and Wellcome Collection exhibition posters, visitor comment books and printed and published material (1990s-2021). 27 posters, 1 information panel and 1 1/2 boxes.

Acc 2704: Assorted Wellcome Collection printed materials including Luke Jerram's heat-activated portrait of Henry Wellcome (2007).

Acc 2707: Wellcome Trust and Wellcome Collection printed and published materials including exhibition guides and catalogues plus an audio recording of Wellcome Collection's Gala Launch Press Conference, 20 June 2007 (1968-2022). 4 folders, 1 presentation box and 2 digital files.

Acc 2708: Organisational records transferred from the Wellcome Trust's records management system. Includes records relating to the following functions and current and legacy departments: Biomedical Ethics, Communication & Education (later Consultation & Education), Conferences & meetings, Exhibitions, Finance, Governance and corporate management, Grants Management, Investments, Medicine, Society & History (MSH), Diamond Light Source, Policy Research in Science and Medicine unit (PRISM) (later the Policy Unit), Premises and Facilities, Press & Public Affairs, Public Engagement, Public Programmes, Publishing, Science Funding, Technology Transfer Division (TTD), Wellcome Museum of Medical Science (WMMS), Tropical Medicine Resource (TMR), Wellcome Centre for Medical Science (WCMS), Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine (WIHM), Wellcome Tropical Institute (WTI), and the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus (1920s - 2010s). 581 boxes.

Acc 2710: Digital records relating to the closure of the wellcomelibrary.org website; the Wellcome Trust Future Ways of Working project, exploring hybrid working approaches following the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020-2022; Research Ecosystems in Africa and Asia priority area reports and articles, 2017-2021; Wellcome's 'What's Occurring' newsletter, 2018-2021; and 'Hear from Jeremy' COVID-19 pandemic video updates for Wellcome Trust staff given by Jeremy Farrar, 2020-2021 (2017-2022). 205 digital files.

Acc 2711: Digital records of the Understanding Patient Data (UPD) programme, supported by Wellcome and based at its headquarters in London until January 2023 (2016-2022). 1,078 digital files.

Acc 2717: Three interview recordings in WAV format with donors who volunteered HIV+ blood for Basse Stittgen's artwork 'Blood Objects', commissioned by Wellcome Collection (2019). 3 digital files.

Acc 2722: Records relating to a Youth Programme project exploring food production, waste, climate change and milk; run in connection with the Wellcome Collection exhibition 'Milk' (30 March 2023 – 10 September 2023) (2023). 1 outsize folder and 2 digital files.

Acc 2732: Papers of Jenny Haynes, former Head of Collections & Research, relating to the management and development of the Wellcome Institute, the Wellcome Library and Wellcome Collection (1980s-2020s). 1 box.

Acc 2736: Digital records of Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust 2013-2023. 1,702 digital files.

Acc 2737: Wellcome Trust and Wellcome Collection printed and published material including exhibition guides; Wellcome Collection website research; and materials created in connection with Wellcome Collection's 'Dirt' and 'Miracles and Charms' exhibitions (2000s-2010s). 3 folders and 1 A3 portfolio.

Acc 2739: Education resources produced for The Great Plant Hunt and In the Zone education initiatives (2009-2012), 1 folder and 2 outsize boxes.

Acc 2743: Model of the Wellcome Tropical Research floating laboratory (c. 1911). 1 oversize model.

Acc 2749: Audio recordings of Wellcome Symposia on the History of Medicine and some miscellaneous talks held at the Wellcome Institute (1970s-1990s). 62 audio cassette tapes.

Acc 2754: Wellcome Trust corporate editorial photography 'CP' and 'EP' shoots created 2000-2017. Includes shoots relating to Wellcome-funded research and individuals; Wellcome-directed and Wellcome-funded public engagement activities; permanent, temporary and traveling exhibitions; Wellcome Collection's public programmes; Wellcome's chairs, directors, governors and non-executive staff; organisational milestones; Wellcome Trust buildings and spaces, e.g. the Library; the Francis Crick Institute; the Sanger Institute and the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus (2000-2017). 917 digital shoots.

Acc 2759: Photographic material and cataloguing metadata relating to the 'A' (animal health) series formerly managed by the Wellcome Images department. 1,308 35mm photographic slides, 1,308 digitised surrogates and 216 born-digital images (1990s-2000s).

Acc 2762: Wellcome Institute annual reports, collection guides and catalogues, exhibition catalogues, and leaflets (1970s-1990s); Wellcome Centre newsletters (1990s); Wellcome Trust publications, offprints and leaflets (1970s-1990s); and black and white photographs of various bookstacks in the Wellcome Building basement c. late 1970s. 6 files [N.b. This accession and extent includes WF and WA/HMM material also].

Acc 2769: Wellcome Institute Iconographic Collections Videodisc (c.1993). 1 12-inch laserdisc.

Acc 2770: Printed and published materials created or supported by Wellcome Collection, Wellcome Institute and the Wellcome Trust. Includes annual reports, exhibition guides, and public programming ephemera (1970s-2024). 1 box and 1 outsize volume.

Acc 2773: Wellcome Trust organisational records including correspondence and papers of Bridget Ogilvie (1993-1998); Wellcome-organised conference and meeting packs (1998-1999); Chair and Director's Office correspondence and papers relating to senior staff (1985-2003); files relating to visits made by Wellcome trustees and scientific staff, namely to universities and health and scientific research and funding organisations (1977-1989); grant and funded activities files (1974-2001); and Wellcome-branded printed and published materials (2015-2016), 11 boxes.

Acc 2777: Registrar files relating to Wellcome Collection exhibition loans in and loans out (2009-2018). 6 boxes.

Acc 2790: Wellcome Trust and Wellcome Collection reports, strategy and union recognition records (2018-2025). 491 digital items.

Acc 2791: William Castell retirement book (2015). 1 volume.

Acc 2792: Wellcome Collection 'The Kola Nut Cannot Be Contained' exhibition materials (2024-2025). 2 volumes and 1 bundle of visitor comment cards.

Acc 2794: Wellcome Trust Education & Learning (formerly Education & Consultation) team files, including material relating to Explorify, the National Network of Science Learning Centres, Project ENTHUSE and a review of UK primary science education (2002-2020). 3 boxes.

Acc 2804: Printed materials for Wellcome Collection exhibitions 'The Cult of Beauty', 26 October 2023-28 April 2024 ; 'Jason Wilsher-Mills : Jason and the Adventure of 254', 21 March 2024-12 January 2025 ; 'Zines Forever! DIY Publishing and Disability Justice', 14 March-14 September 2025 ; '1880 THAT', 17 April 2025-16 November 2025 ; and 'Thirst : In Search of Freshwater', 26 June 2025-1 February 2026 (2023-2025). 6 folders.

Acc 2807 : Wellcome Trust Grant Policy files on subjects including bioethics, molecular biology, clinical sciences, neuroscience, tropical medicine and infectious diseases, veterinary medicine and the history of medicine (c.1967-2000s). 62 boxes.

Acc 2808 : Records transferred from the Wellcome Trust records management system including material relating to the SNP Consortium; Board of Governor and Executive Board meetings; Audit, Strategy and Risk Committee meetings; GRL board meetings; Syncona board meetings; interviews with Wellcome Trust stuff conducted by Peter Williams; Hinxton Hall, the South Field Project and the Wellcome Trust Human Genome Campus; Science policy and funding meetings; Clinical Portfolio activities; publishing outputs (e.g. flyers, newsletters and Annual Records); policy consultations and reports; former governors; Roger Gibbs; strategic planning; and Michael Morgan's work with the Human Genome Organization (HUGO). Also includes a small number of VHS tapes with footage of exhibitions, Wellies staff pantomime, staff meetings etc. (1970s-2010s). 59 boxes and 13 VHS tapes.

Acc 2819 : Records transferred from the Wellcome Trust records management system including material relating to Biomedical Ethics, Consultation & Education, Corporate Affairs, Corporate Communications, Culture & Society, Director's Office, Dominik Wujastyk (South Asian Collections), Eric Freeman (Wellcome Institute), Exhibitions, Laurence Smaje (Medicine, Society and History), the Library, Media Relations, Meetings and Travel, Policy, Press Office, Publishing, Science Funding, Sir William Paton (Trustee), Strategic Planning & Policy, Technology Transfer Division, Wellcome Centre, Wellcome Collection, and the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus (1901-2015) 211 boxes and 1 folder.

Acc 2837 : Posters and papers relating to Wellcome Library exhibitions 'Burroughs Wellcome: the Foundation of a great company', 1 September-24 October 2003 and 'Ambition and Distraction: Silas Mainville Burroughs, 1846-1895', 27 October 2003-9 January 2004; correspondence and papers regarding the maintenance of Silas Mainville Burrough's grave in Monte Carlo and a donation by the Wellcome Trust towards its upkeep; and texts of presentations and talks given and drafts of articles by Julia Sheppard re. Silas Mainville Burroughs.

Acc 2843: Wellcome Trust digital editorial photography shoots created in 2018. Includes shoots relating to Wellcome-funded activities, centres and people; Wellcome Collection exhibitions and public programmes; Wellcome Collection collection material; Wellcome's directorate and non-executive staff; Wellcome Trust buildings; the Francis Crick Institute; and the Sanger Institute. 1542 digital items.

Acc 2850: Lloyds Bank cheque (no. 020503) for £2,474,655,000, issued by Glaxo plc to Wellcome Trust Nominees Ltd on 30 March 1995 in respect of the Trust's shareholding in Wellcome plc following Glaxo plc's final takeover offer. As well as Ian Macgregor's working hours sheet, 1986-1995. 1 file.

Further additions to the collection are expected.

Addresses
c.1946-1958 28 Portman Square, London
1958-1972 52 Queen Anne Street, London
1972-1992 1 Park Square West, London
1992-2004 Wellcome Building, 185 Euston Road, London
2004-present Gibbs Building, 215 Euston Road, London

Activity

The Wellcome Trust is a British registered charity established by the will of Sir Henry Wellcome. Upon his death in 1936 ownership of 100 per cent of the shares of the pharmaceutical company Wellcome Foundation passed to the newly formed Wellcome Trust. This income was to be used to advance medical research and support the understanding of its history.

The Trust's early years were spent winding up Sir Henry Wellcome's affairs, administering the bequests included in the will and re-structuring Wellcome Foundation which had previously been largely under Henry Wellcome's personal control. The Trustees were also responsible for paying the Estate Duty which absorbed most of the Trust's income during its first five years. Initial grant giving activities focused on Henry's main interests: pharmacy and pharmacology, veterinary and tropical medicine. The first tropical research unit to be funded was the Wellcome Research Laboratories at Thessaloniki (later Nairobi), which the Trust began funding in 1938. The Trust also endowed medical university chairs, such as in Clinical Tropical Medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1945) and Parmacology at the School of Pharmacy, University of London (1946). Also popular were the Wellcome Research Travel Grants, introduced in the 1950s, which provided expenses to UK scientists travelling abroad and to foreign scientists visiting the UK. In its first 20 years, the Wellcome Trust gave out £1.2 million in charitable funding though its activities were limited first by its obligations to pay the Estate Duty and then by the postwar financial problems of Wellcome Foundation, which came close to bankruptcy before recovering and steadily growing from the late 1950s.

Under the terms of Sir Henry Wellcome's will the Trust had an obligation to support the understanding of the history of medicine and in the early years this was achieved by developing the Wellcome Historical Medcial Museum and Library. By the 1960s the Trustees were keen to fulfil their obligations through grant funding and in 1966 established the country's first history of medicine university department at University College London (UCL).

By 1966 Wellcome Foundation had not only recovered from its financial problems but had become highly profitable after several lucrative drug discoveries were marketed. This gave the Wellcome Trust much greater scope to develop its funding activities and in 1966 the Trust introduced its first funding policy, articulating what was and was not in scope and setting out new funding streams. The focus was to be on filling national funding gaps and on supporting individuals rather providing funding for buildings and equipment. Until this point, all applications had been considered by the Board of Trustees and the Trust administration was managed by a small number of employees. The focus on personal support resulted in a large increase in the number of grant applications received, leading the Trust to expand its staff and introduce a more sophisticated organisational structure. Advisory panels were introduced to help the Trustees judge applications and the first Wellcome Trust Director, Peter Williams, was appointed in 1967.

The Trust continued to grow throughout the 1970s and early 1980s and its charitable output increased year on year. Additional overseas units were funded to support the World Health Organization's Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases and the Trust continued to encourage interest in the history of medicine through the establishment of several history of medicine units at universities including Oxford (1972) and Manchester (1986). By 1985 the Trust was dissatisfied with its arrangement with Wellcome Foundation. Despite being valued at £1 billion, the Foundation dividends only granted the Trust charitable expenditure of around £26.5 million a year and the Trust Chairman, Sir David Steel, believed greater income could be gained through well managed investments. In addition, Steel was aware of the dangers of relying on one source of income and was keen to diversify the Trust's portfolio. The Board of Trustees agreed and in 1986 Wellcome Foundation was renamed Wellcome Plc and floated on stock market as a private limited company. Twenty-five per cent of shares were sold, leaving the Wellcome Trust as the majority shareholder. A further thirty-five per cent of shares were later sold in 1992. As a result, the Wellcome Trust's income doubled and it became one of the world's largest grant giving charities. As things stood, the Trustees were liable for the entire share sale worth £2.3 billion and so during the 1992 sale a new corporate entity was formed, Wellcome Trust Ltd. This private limited company became the sole Trustee of the Wellcome Trust, and the Trustees became Governors. The Governors, aided by the Wellcome Trust senior management, now had a role similar to that of a board of directors managing a company. The Trust's staffing levels also grew and a new organisational structure was implemented to allow the Trust to maintain and grow its activities. In January 1995 the Board of Governors sold the majority of the remainder of their shares in Wellcome Plc to Glaxo Plc, allowing a takeover to form Glaxo Wellcome Plc (now GlaxoSmithKline).

Asset diversification and shrewd in-house investment led to a long period of growth for the Trust, resulting in a huge increase in the Wellcome Trust's funding activities and its involvement in various large scale initiatives such as establishing the Sanger Institute, which sequenced one third of the human genome, and co-funding the Diamond Light Source synchrotron and UK Biobank. It also refurbished the Wellcome Building at 185 Euston Road and developed the library and public engagement facilities, culminating in the opening of Wellcome Collection in 2007.

The Wellcome Trust's growth in the 1990s put pressure on accommodation and in the early 2000s the Trust purchased land adjacent to the Wellcome Building and construction on the Gibbs Building, 215 Euston Road (named after former Chairman Roger Gibbs) was completed in 2004. The Wellcome Building was given over to the Wellcome Collection and Library and included a conference centre and public engagement space.

On 3 January 2019 the Trust opened its first international office in Berlin, Germany to enable it to work more closely with international partners.

Internal structures
Board of Trustees, 1936-1992
Board of Governors, 1992-present

Chairpersons
1936-1938 GHH LyalL
1938-1960 Sir Henry Dale
1960-1965 Rt Hon Lord Piercy
1965-1980 Rt Hon Lord Franks [PC, OM, GCMG, KCB, DL]
1980- Rt Hon Lord Armstong of Sanderstead [GCB, MVO]
1982-1990 Sir David Steel
1990-1999 Sir Roger Gibbs
1999-2007 Sir Dominic Cadbury
2007-2015 Sir William Castell
2015-2021 Eliza Manningham-Buller
2021-present Julia Gillard

Directors
1967-1991 Peter Williams
1991-1998 Bridget Ogilvie
1998-2003 Michael Dexter
2003-2013 Sir Mark Walport
2013-2023 Jeremy Farrar

Chief Executive Officer
2023-2024 Paul Schrier (Interim CEO)
2024-present John-Arne Røttingen