{{Short description|American photographer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Scott Mead | birth_date = | birth_place = Washington, DC, United States | citizenship = | education = Harvard University (BA)<br />{{no wrap|Emmanuel College, Cambridge}} (MPhil)<br />University of Pennsylvania (JD) | occupation = Fine art photographer, philanthropist | years_active = 1980s–present | employer = | known_for = | style = Photography | spouse = Su Ling (1986)<ref name=nyt-marry/> | boards = | awards = | website = {{Official website|https://scottmeadfineartphotography.com/}} }}
'''Scott Mead''' is an American fine art photographer,<ref name=bi-laroche>{{cite news |last1=La Roche |first1=Julia |date=December 10, 2012 |title=A Former Goldman Heavy-Hitter Rediscovered His 20s After Finding Gorgeous Photos In His Attic |url= http://www.businessinsider.com/scott-mead-photography-2012-12?op=1| work=Business Insider |access-date=December 31, 2017}}</ref> philanthropist, and investor currently based in London.<ref name=nyt-hiatus>{{cite news |last1=Sorkin |first1=Andrew Ross |date=October 6, 2006 |title=Merger Banker Is Joining Apax After a Hiatus |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/business/06deal.html | work=The New York Times |location=New York City, New York, United States |access-date=December 31, 2017}}</ref><ref name=ft-voda>{{cite news |last1=Mychasuk |first1=Emiliya |last2=Terazono |first2=Emiko |date=September 17, 2010 |title=Mead in the lens |url=https://www.ft.com/content/b6257262-c2ba-11df-956e-00144feab49a | work=Financial Times |location=United Kingdom |access-date=December 31, 2017}}</ref><ref name=ft-ex>{{cite news |last1=Saigol |first1= Lina |date=October 5, 2006 |title=Apax lures Mead for his global telecoms expertise |url=https://www.ft.com/content/73056570-54a3-11db-901f-0000779e2340 | work=Financial Times |location=United Kingdom |access-date=December 31, 2017}}</ref> He is a former managing director and partner of Goldman Sachs, London<ref name=hc-babi>{{cite news |last1=Das |first1=Babi |date=June 4, 2002 |title=Goldman Partner Shuns Beaten Path |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2002/6/4/goldman-partner-shuns-beaten-path-at/ | work=The Harvard Crimson |access-date=January 3, 2017}}</ref> where he became known for overseeing and negotiating large telecommunications and technology mergers,<ref name=nyt-hiatus/><ref name=hc-babi/> including, in 2000, as chief advisor<ref name=value-motive/> to Vodafone's nearly $200 billion buyout of Mannesmann,<ref name=bi-laroche/><ref name=ft-voda/> the largest corporate acquisition in history.<ref name=ft-ex/><ref name=hc-babi/> During 2011 through 2025, his photography work has been shown in over a dozen Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions.<ref name=exhibitions/>
==Early life and education== Scott Mead<ref name=nyt-marry>{{cite news |date=September 21, 1986 |title=Edward S. Mead Married in Erie To Su Ling Chan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/21/style/edward-s-mead-married-in-erie-to-su-ling-chan.html | work=New York Times |location= New York City, New York|access-date=December 31, 2017}}</ref> was born in Washington, DC.<ref name=bio/> His father, James M. Mead, was a businessperson. With extended family based out of Erie, Pennsylvania during his youth, Mead's grandfather John J. Mead Jr.<ref name=nyt-marry/> had been a press journalist<ref name=bi-laroche/><ref>{{Cite web|title=US photographer Scott Mead on giving back to Great Ormond Street|url=https://www.spearswms.com/scott-mead-philanthropy-multi-dimensional/|access-date=2021-07-08|website=www.spearswms.com|date=May 8, 2018 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and photographer<ref name=s-spoon/> for the ''Erie Times-News'', founded and owned by the Mead family.<ref name=nyt-marry/> After accompanying his grandfather on assignments as a small child,<ref name=bio/> Mead learned photography after he was given one of his grandfather's cameras at age thirteen.<ref name=s-spoon/> Mead taught himself how to develop photographs in his parents' basement.<ref name=bi-laroche/> He attended high school at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts,<ref name=nyt-marry/> graduating in 1973.<ref name=p-academy/> In 1974 he began attending Harvard College.<ref name=hc-babi/> At Harvard he majored in American history and literature,<ref name=linkedin/> also focusing on the visual arts under professors such as William Eggleston.<ref name=s-spoon/> Mead graduated cum laude<ref name=nyt-marry/> with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1977.<ref name=gac>{{Citation |year=2015 |title=Harvard Global Advisory Council |location=Harvard University |page=4 |url=https://alumni.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/page/files/A_Record_of_Generous_Leadership_GAC_2015.pdf|access-date=January 3, 2017 }}</ref> After receiving the Harvard Scholar award that year to attend Cambridge University,<ref name="MeadFellowship">The Mead Fellowship in Economics, Emmanuel College - Albert Hammond - Feb 2, 2011 -ezine</ref> in 1979<ref name=linkedin/> he graduated Emmanuel College, Cambridge with a Master of Philosophy.<ref name="MeadFellowship"/> Mead subsequently received a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania law school<ref name=nyt-marry/> in 1982.<ref name=linkedin/>
==Business career== ===1980s-2003=== Early in his career Mead worked at First Boston Corporation,<ref name="WorkAccepted">Scott Mead's Work Accepted to the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition - Amanda Lisin - August 21, 2011</ref> then moved to Goldman Sachs in New York, in 1986,<ref name=linkedin/> as vice president in their corporate finance department,<ref name=nyt-marry/> before being transferred to London, in 1988,<ref name=nyt-hiatus/> where he became a Goldman Sachs managing director and, later, a partner.<ref name=linkedin/> At Goldman Sachs he soon took on the roles<ref name=hc-babi/> of chairman of the global telecoms, media, entertainment and technology group<ref name=ft-ex/> and the head of European Privatizations,<ref name=linkedin/> advising on many major deals.<ref name=nyt-hiatus/><ref name=ft-ex/> He was Goldman Sachs' chief negotiator<ref name=value-motive>{{Citation |last=Kearns |first=Paul |date=April 4, 2007 |title=The Value Motive: The Only Alternative to the Profit Motive |publisher=John Wiley & Sons|page= 93|isbn=9780470319802 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZQdkIRMwzEC&q=%22scott+mead%22+banking&pg=PA93|access-date=January 5, 2017 }}</ref> and advisor for Vodafone's nearly $200 billion takeover of German telecom group Mannesmann in 2000—the largest in history.<ref name=ft-voda/><ref name=ft-ex/><ref name=efinance/><ref name=m-mag>{{Cite web|url = http://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/a-303395.html|title = Schlussspurt ohne Scott Mead|date = June 9, 2004|website = Manager Magazin Online|language = de}}</ref> He also advised Vodafone on its $66.5 billion takeover of Airtouch Communications.<ref name=ft-ex/> During his tenure at Goldman Sachs, he oversaw mergers and transactions totaling approximately $500 billion<ref name=linkedin/> prior to retiring from the firm in 2003.<ref name=linkedin/> Mead subsequently managed his own private equity activities; advised a group of blue-chip companies;<ref name=ft-ex/> and focused on philanthropy.<ref name=ft-ex/>
===2006-present=== From October 2006<ref name=nyt-hiatus/><ref name=ft-ex/> until September 2008 Mead was a senior advisor<ref name=linkedin/> at Apax Partners, serving as chairman of the company's global technology and telecommunications advisory board.<ref name=ft-ex/> He co-founded Richmond Park Partners (RPP) in 2007.<ref name=bb-rpark>{{Citation |title=Company Overview of Richmond Park Partners LLP |publisher=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=33409662}}</ref> Mead joined a group of investors around 2006 who had purchased the Boston Celtics.<ref name=tgraph-basket/> After management made substantial investments in new talent and coaching, the team won 2008 NBA Finals,<ref name=tgraph-basket>{{cite news|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/citydiary/2791895/Not-all-investors-are-a-basket-case.html|title = Not all investors are a basket case|date = June 19, 2008|newspaper = The Telegraph}}</ref> and later won the 2024 NBA Finals.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-18 |title=NBA Finals 2024: Celtics-Mavericks news, schedule, scores and highlights |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39943302/nba-finals-2024-celtics-mavericks-news-scores-highlights |access-date=2025-11-13 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref> Since 2010,<ref name=bio/> Mead has devoted much of his time to photography.<ref name=linkedin/><ref name=bio/>
== Arts career == Mead minored in visual studies at Harvard, studying under photographers such as William Eggleston<ref name=s-spoon>{{Cite web|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/citydiary/7941587/Now-theyre-targeting-the-silver-spoon-brigade.html|title = Now they're targeting the silver-spoon brigade|date = August 12, 2010|website = The Telegraph}}</ref> and Emmet Gowin in the mid-1970s.<ref name=bio/> Among other projects, around this time he "used a complex photography technique to shoot a series of black and white photographs capturing rural New England" circular format.<ref name="WorkAccepted"/> In 2009, Mead rediscovered old prints and negatives from his student years in his attic,<ref name=bi-laroche/> and began re-immersing himself in photography.<ref name=bio/> In 2010, 25 of Mead's images from 1974 to 1977,<ref name=exhibitions/> many of them never printed before,<ref name=bio>{{Citation |title=biography |publisher=scottmeadphotography.co.uk|url=https://scottmeadphotography.co.uk/biography/ }}</ref> were displayed at a London solo exhibition titled ''Looking Back''<ref name=exhibitions/> at Mayfair gallery Hamilton's,<ref name=ft-voda/><ref name=p-gallery/> with all funds donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.<ref name=bio/> Prints from the exhibit and other works were afterward selected for inclusion in the 2011 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and Mead also had prints selected for the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 2012,<ref name=bio/> 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.<ref name=exhibitions/> In 2012 the BBC ''Culture Show'' program profiled his work,<ref name=culture>{{Citation |date=July 18, 2012 |title=Scott Mead The Culture Show |publisher=The Culture Show |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3lDfS5w13k |access-date=January 3, 2017 }}</ref> and Mead published the book ''Looking Back'' afterwards, featuring prints from his twenties.<ref name=bio/> In October 2017 the aerial photography and philosophy book ''Above the Clouds'' was published by Prestel,<ref name=atc/> with prints from the book exhibited in January 2018 at Hamiltons.<ref name=hamiltons-pr/> His most recent book, ''Equivalents'' was published by Prestel in late 2022. The book, inspired by William Eggleston, features paired nature photographs, with text by Brad Leithauser.<ref name=PRESTEL/>
== Boards and philanthropy == He created The Mead Family Foundation<ref name=p-gallery/> in 1996,<ref name=linkedin/> assuming the role of chairman.<ref name=t-foundation/> After Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London treated his infant child, Mead became a long-term supporter,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Looking Back {{!}} Scott Mead Photography |url=https://scottmeadfineartphotography.com/exhibitions/looking-back-hamiltons-london-2010/ |access-date=2025-11-13 |website=scottmeadfineartphotography.com}}</ref> donating the proceeds of his works,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moments In Time |url=https://ladbrokehall.com/live-programme/exhibition/moments-in-time/ |access-date=2025-11-13 |website=Ladbroke Hall |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Roche |first=Julia La |title=A Former Goldman Heavy-Hitter Rediscovered His 20s After Finding Gorgeous Photos In His Attic |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/scott-mead-photography-2012-12 |access-date=2025-11-13 |website=Business Insider}}</ref> and becoming a board member of the institution.<ref name=linkedin/> He has also endowed its GOSH Arts program, where patients are immersed in the arts during often difficult treatments, potentially resulting in a more positive outcome.<ref name=ft-part>{{cite news |last1=Wrathall |first1=Claire |date=October 13, 2017 |title=Exploring the palliative power of art |url=https://howtospendit.ft.com/art/201859-the-philanthropists-exploring-art-s-palliative-power | work=Financial Times |location=United Kingdom |access-date=January 5, 2017}}</ref>
He has been a member of the board of visitors of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.<ref>{{Cite web|title=MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors 2011-2012|url=https://www.mdanderson.org/documents/publications/annual-report/BOV2011.pdf|access-date=2021-07-08}}</ref> Through the Foundation,<ref name="MeadFellowship"/> he is involved with organizations such as the Tate Foundation,<ref name=t-foundation/> the International Center of Photography,<ref name=icp/> the University of the Arts,<ref name=linkedin/> The Photographers' Gallery,<ref name=p-gallery/> and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.wtatennis.com/global-advisory-council|title = Global Advisory Council|website = WTA}}</ref> He remains personally involved in all of his alma maters, including Emmanuel College,<ref name=eman>{{Citation |year=2011 |title=Thanking Donors |url=https://www.emma.cam.ac.uk/publications/Emma_Review_2011.pdf |access-date= January 5, 2018}}</ref> supporting programs at Phillips Academy,<ref name=p-academy>{{Cite web|url =https://www.andover.edu/About/AdministrationGovernance/Pages/CharterTrusteeScottMead73.aspx|title =Charter Trustee: Scott Mead '73|publisher =Andover|url-status =dead|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140102202326/http://www.andover.edu/About/AdministrationGovernance/Pages/CharterTrusteeScottMead73.aspx|archive-date =January 2, 2014|df =mdy-all}}</ref> Cambridge University,<ref name=uk-advise/> Harvard University,<ref name=gac/> and the University of Pennsylvania Law School,<ref name=upen-mead>{{Citation |title=Our Global Initiatives |url=https://www.law.upenn.edu/international/our-global-initiatives.php|access-date=January 2, 2017 }}</ref> and serving on the Harvard Board of Overseers during 2022–2024.<ref name="Har">{{Cite web |date=2022-05-26 |title=Seven alumni elected to the Board of Overseers, six to HAA |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/05/seven-alumni-elected-to-the-board-of-overseers-six-to-haa/ |access-date=2025-11-14 |website=The Harvard Gazette}}</ref>
Mead has spearheaded a number of educational initiatives, and he backed and co-founded London's Notting Hill Preparatory school in 2003.<ref name=efinance/> He has been a board member of Usher's New Look Foundation, which provides training and mentorship to disadvantaged children,<ref name=efinance>{{cite news |date=March 28, 2011 |title= Mead mixes profits and philanthropy|url=http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2011-03-28/mead-mixes-profits-and-philanthropy | work=E Financial News }}</ref><ref name=uk-advise>{{Cite web|url = http://www.roomtoread.org/page.aspx?pid=742|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100913081414/http://www.roomtoread.org/Page.aspx?pid=742|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2010-09-13|title = UK Advisory Board|website = Room to Read}}</ref> and he joined the UK advisory board of Room to Read in 2009.<ref name=linkedin/> He founded the Mead International Fellows Program,<ref name="WorkAccepted"/> and in 2008 he established the "Scott Mead '77 Family Head Coach" endowment to support the Harvard Men's Tennis team.<ref name=h-head>{{Cite web|url = http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/09/harvard-announces-scott-mead-%E2%80%9977-family-head-coach-for-men%E2%80%99s-tennis/|title= Harvard announces Scott Mead '77 Family Head Coach for Men's Tennis|date = September 18, 2008|website = Harvard Gazette}}</ref> A benefactor fellow at Emmanuel College,<ref name=eman/> he was the creator and benefactor of the University of the Arts London's Mead Fellowships, which provides grants to students in the arts.<ref name=arts-mead>{{Citation |title=Mead Scholarships and Fellowships |publisher= University of London|location=London, United Kingdom |url=http://www.arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/student-fees--funding/scholarships-search/mead-scholarships-and-fellowships/}}</ref>
He is also involved in various athletic and arts organizations. He joined the executive committee for the Tate Foundation,<ref name=t-foundation>{{Cite web|url =http://www.tate.org.uk/download/file/fid/4431|title =Membership of the Tate Board's Councils and Committees|website =The Tate|url-status =dead|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20141203035609/http://www.tate.org.uk/download/file/fid/4431|archive-date =December 3, 2014|df =mdy-all}}</ref> and served on its acquisition committee.<ref name="acqui">{{Cite web|title=International Center of Photography Board Elects New Trustees|url=https://www.icp.org/files/icp_new_board_members_press.pdf|access-date=2021-07-08}}</ref> He served on the global advisory council of the WTA and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).<ref>{{Cite web |title=IC Philanthropy > Who We Are |url=https://www.icphilanthropy.ictennis.net/who-we-are |access-date=2025-11-13 |website=www.icphilanthropy.ictennis.net}}</ref> Mead has been a member of the trustees of Queens Club.<ref name=acqui/> and a trustee of the International Center of Photography in New York.<ref name=icp>{{Cite web|url = http://www.icp.org/sites/default/files/exhibition_pdfs/icp_new_board_members_press.pdf|title = International Center of Photography Board Elects New Trustees|website = International Center of Photography}}{{dead link|date=January 2018}}</ref> He joined the rector's council of the University of the Arts London in 2012, and its court of governors in 2017.<ref name=linkedin/> He was chairman of the board of trustees<ref name=p-gallery/> of The Photographers' Gallery in London from 2013<ref name=p-gallery>{{Cite web|url = http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/scott-mead-announced-as-new-chairman-of-the-photographers-gallery|title = Scott Mead announced as new chairman of The Photographers' Gallery|date = November 4, 2013|website = The Photographers' Gallery|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140627021915/http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/scott-mead-announced-as-new-chairman-of-the-photographers-gallery|archive-date = June 27, 2014|df = mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=linkedin/> until 2016,<ref name=linkedin>{{Citation |title= Scott Mead|publisher=LinkedIn |url=https://uk.linkedin.com/in/scottmead2 |access-date= January 3, 2017}}</ref> and, since 2017, is a trustee of the Royal Academy of Arts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scott Mead {{!}} Artist {{!}} Royal Academy of Arts |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/scott-mead |access-date=2025-11-14 |website=www.royalacademy.org.uk}}</ref>
==Selected exhibitions== *2010: ''Looking Back'' - Solo exhibition / Hamilton's Gallery, London - 25 of Mead's prints from 1974 to 1977 were exhibited<ref name=exhibitions/> *2010-2011: ''The PhotoVoice Auction of Exceptional Photographs'' - Group show - Mead's print “Three Barns” and “Untitled” exhibited and sold as part of the auction to benefit PhotoVoice<ref name=exhibitions/> *2011-2012: ''The Art Show'' - Group show / Park Avenue Armory, New York - His print “Evening Light” was exhibited, followed by "Untitled (Umbrellas on Beach)," with the show organized by the Art Dealers Association of America to benefit Henry Street Settlement<ref name=exhibitions/> *2011-2017: ''Summer Exhibition'' - Group show / Royal Academy of Arts, London - various photograph prints selected, most recently "Journey into Blue" and "Autumn”<ref name=exhibitions>{{Citation |title=selected exhibitions |publisher=scottmeadphotography.co.uk |url=http://scottmeadphotography.co.uk/exhibitions/ |access-date=January 3, 2017 }}</ref> *2018: ''Scott Mead: Above the Clouds'' - Solo exhibition / Hamilton's Gallery, London - several prints<ref name=hamiltons-pr>{{Citation |title=Scott Mead - Above the Clouds |publisher=Hamiltons |url=http://www.hamiltonsgallery.com/exhibitions/118/press_release/|access-date= January 3, 2017}}</ref> * 2019–2020, 2022-2025: ''Summer Exhibition'' - Group show / Royal Academy of Arts, London<ref name=academy>"[https://scottmeadfineartphotography.com/exhibitions/ Scott Mead Photography] 2023</ref> * 2025: ''Scott Mead: Moments in Time: A Photographic Journey 1972 to 2024'' - Solo exhibition, Ladbroke Hall, London<ref name=arts-mead/>
==Books== * ''Looking Back'' by Scott Mead; 2010.<ref>{{Citation |last=Mead|first=Scott |year=2010|title=Above the Clouds: Scott Mead (Hardback) |publisher=Abe Books |url=https://www.abebooks.com/Scott-Mead-Looking-Back-London/10485757094/bd |access-date=January 3, 2018 }}</ref> *''Above the Clouds''; Prestel; 2017.<ref name=atc>{{Citation |last=Mead|first=Scott |date= October 2, 2017|title=Above the Clouds: Scott Mead (Hardback) |publisher=Prestel |url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/above-the-clouds/scott-mead/9783791383330 |access-date=January 3, 2018 }}</ref> *''Equivalents''; Prestel; 2022.<ref name=PRESTEL>Author Scott Mead; ''[https://prestelpublishing.penguinrandomhouse.de/book/Equivalents/Scott-Mead/Prestel-com/e570090.rhd Equivalents]'' on Dec. 6, 2022 (US); Nov.15, 2022 (UK); Prestel Publishing, ISBN 978-3-7913-8655-3</ref> *''Thoughts For My Children''; Hurtwood Press; 2024.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Thoughts-For-My-Children/Scott-Mead/9780903696715|title=Thoughts For My Children |date=2024-03-01|isbn=978-0-903696-71-5}}</ref> *''Rites of Passage''; Hurtwood Press; 2026.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Rites-of-Passage/Scott-Mead/9780903696722 |title=Rites of Passage |date=2026-03-31 |isbn=978-0-903696-72-2}}</ref>
==See also== *List of former employees of Goldman Sachs
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website|https://scottmeadfineartphotography.com/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mead, Scott}} Category:Goldman Sachs people Category:Fine art photographers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Phillips Academy alumni Category:University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni