Catherine Arnold arrived at Cambridge directly from a career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during which she served as ambassador to Mongolia. We met in October 2019, not long after that last diplomatic assignment, and just as she was beginning a new position as Master of St Edmund’s – the very first woman to be elected to this role. She now offers a unique opportunity to its students – as head of the college, but arguably as the modern face of an entire university. I interviewed Catherine Arnold in London, and discovered a fascinating personality, who as a first hand participant in world affairs gives us a ring-side seat to join her.