Catherine Arnold


Catherine Elizabeth Jane Arnold, is a British academic administrator and former diplomat. Since October 2019, she has been the Master of St Edmund's College, Cambridge: she is 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 and then journalist. She had joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2006.

Early life and education

Arnold was born on 10 November 1978 in Pusan, South Korea. She was educated at the Overseas School of Colombo, an English medium international school located in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and at the Ryde School with Upper Chine, an independent school on the Isle of Wight, England. She then matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge: she studied maths and theology, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree; and philosophy of religions, graduating with a Master of Philosophy degree. She also studied religious conflict at the University of Nottingham, graduating with a Master of Arts degree.

Career

From 2001 to 2003, Arnold was a management consultant with Oliver Wyman and Co. Then, from 2003 to 2006, she worked as a journalist.

Diplomatic career

In 2006, Arnold joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. From 2006 to 2007, she was assigned to work on Prevent, a counter terrorism strategy. She then worked in the Political, Press & Public Affairs office in Muscat, Oman and in Baghdad, Iraq. In 2009, she received language training in Persian and was posted to Tehran, Iran. Then, from 2011 to 2013, she was the Head of Communication and a spokesperson in Kabul, 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 initiative titled "Philanthropic Investment".
On 23 March 2015, it was announced that Arnold would be the next British Ambassador to Mongolia in succession to Christopher Stuart. She took up the appointment in May 2015. In March 2018 she was replaced by Philip Malone. Since 2018, she has served as head of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Unit at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Academic career

On 7 March 2019, it was announced that Arnold had been elected as the next Master of St Edmund's College, Cambridge. She took up the appointment on 1 October 2019: she is the college's 15th master, and its first female head.

Selected works

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