Catherine Elizabeth Jane Arnold, (born 10 November 1978) is a British

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ...

and former diplomat. From October 2019 to October 2024, she was the Master of St Edmund's College, Cambridge: she was the fifteenth person to hold that post and the first woman. From May 2015 until 2018, she served as Her Majesty's Ambassador to Mongolia. After three degrees, she worked as a

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

and then journalist and then joined the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

in 2006.

Early life and education

Arnold was born on 10 November 1978 in

Pusan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southe ...

, South Korea. She was educated at the

Overseas School of Colombo The Overseas School of Colombo is a multinational English medium international school located in Pelawatte near Battaramulla, a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The school offers IB programs from Pre-K through to 12th grade in Sri Lanka. OSC is acc ...

, an English medium international school located in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Sri Lanka, and at the Ryde School with Upper Chine, a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, England where she was Head Girl. She then

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

as a

choral scholar {{Short description, Student who receives a scholarship for singing in a choir A choral scholar is a student at either a university or a private school who receives a scholarship in exchange for singing in the school or university's choir. This is ...

, where she studied maths and theology, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; and philosophy of religions, graduating with a

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

(MPhil) degree. She was a pilot in the

University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons (UAS), are Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF. That offers training and flight training to university students, with the goal of attracting students into a ca ...

. She then studied religious conflict at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, graduating with a Master of Arts (MA) degree.'ARNOLD, Catherine Elizabeth Jane', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 10 Nov 2017
/ref>

Career

From 2001 to 2003, Arnold was a

with

Oliver Wyman Oliver Wyman, LLC is an American management consulting firm. Founded in New York City in 1984 by former Booz Allen Hamilton partners Alex Oliver and Bill Wyman, the firm has more than 60 offices in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and A ...

and Co. Then, from 2003 to 2006, she worked as a journalist.

Diplomatic career

In 2006, Arnold joined the

(FCO). From 2006 to 2007, she was assigned to work on Prevent, a

counter terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to com ...

strategy. She then worked in the Political, Press & Public Affairs office in

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

, Oman (2007–2008) and in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, Iraq (2008). In 2009, she received language training in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and was posted to

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran. Then, from 2011 to 2013, she was the Head of Communication and a spokesperson in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, Afghanistan. In 2013, she returned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London where she had been appointed Head of its Emerging Powers Initiative. In 2014, she worked on a joint FCO and

UK Trade & Investment UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) was a UK Government department working with businesses based in the United Kingdom to assist their success in international markets, and with overseas investors looking to the UK as an investment destination. It wa ...

(UKTI) initiative titled "Philanthropic Investment". On 23 March 2015, it was announced that Arnold would be the next

British Ambassador to Mongolia The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Mongolia is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in Mongolia, and head of the UK's diplomatic mission there. The official title is ''His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to Mongolia''. Br ...

in succession to Christopher Stuart. She took up the appointment in May 2015. In March 2018 she was replaced by

Philip Malone Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the n ...

. From 2018, she served as head of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Unit at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and then led the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's successful bid to chair the

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, coun ...

, COP26. In the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

of 2019, she was awarded the OBE (Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

Academic administration career

On 7 March 2019, it was announced that Arnold had been elected as the next

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

St Edmund's College, Cambridge St Edmund's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. Founded in 1896, it is the second-oldest of the three Cambridge colleges oriented to mature students, which accept ...

. She took up the appointment on 1 October 2019: she was the college's 15th master, and its first female head. By March 2020, the college was subject to lockdown owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and, since it caters entirely to mature and graduate students, many of whom had no other home to which to travel safely, she unexpectedly found she was (for a short spell) head of the largest Cambridge college, based on numbers of students living onsite. She stepped down in October 2024, after five years in charge, and was succeeded as master by Professor Chris Young.

Selected works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Catherine 1978 births Living people Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Mongolia 21st-century British diplomats British women ambassadors Members of HM Diplomatic Service Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Busan People educated at Ryde School with Upper Chine Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Nottingham Masters of St Edmund's College, Cambridge