Judith McKay joined the Queensland Museum in 1988, after beginning her museum career at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra (the first female curator) and as curator of the Howard Hinton Collection, Armidale, New South Wales. In 1983–86 she undertook a National Estate study of war memorials in Queensland, while also working on a research project on early Queensland architects for the University of Queensland. Besides caring for the Queensland Museum’s applied arts collections, Judith curated a series of exhibitions including Ellis Rowan: A Flower-Hunter in Queensland (1990), Harold Parker Sculptor (1993, for the Queensland Art Gallery), The Champions: Two Queensland Embroiderers (1995), Brilliant Careers: Women Collectors and Illustrators in Queensland (1997) and Queensland 1901 (2001). Her Queensland Museum publications include Queensland Architects of the 19th Century: A Biographical Dictionary (1994, with Donald Watson), Showing Off: Queensland at World Expositions 1862 to 1988 (2004) and Surveying Queensland 1839–1945: A Pictorial History (2006, with Bill Kitson). In 2001 Judith was awarded a Queensland-Smithsonian Fellowship for overseas research on world expositions, and in 2008 the John Douglas Kerr Medal of Distinction for History awarded by the Royal Historical Society of Queensland and the Professional Historians Association (Qld). Judith left the Queensland Museum in July 2008. Information by Judith McKay, June 2008.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
1971 Bachelor of Arts Honours (Fine Arts and History), University of Melbourne
1976 Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies, University of Sydney
1982 Master of Arts Honours (Fine Arts), University of Sydney
1996 Doctor of Philosophy (History), University of Queensland