Catherine Quinn

Catherine Quinn is a non-executive Director on CPI’s Board as well as Senior Independent Director and Chair of the People and Remuneration Committee.

Catherine has worked in leadership roles for 25 years in a career that has crossed sectors, from research, science and innovation; to professional services; business and legal education; and national institutions.

From the late 1990s, Catherine directed Oxford University’s research-related services, where she led on development of the University’s Intellectual Property policy and was closely involved in developing Oxford's early approaches to licensing IP rights and spinning out science-based companies.

From Oxford, she spent the next stages of her career at the Wellcome Trust, leading a transformation of its grant-giving operations; The Middle Temple, where she was a modernising Chief Executive; Oxford University's Saïd Business School, as Associate Dean and Chief Operating Officer; and The Royal Household, at Kensington Palace, as Private Secretary in the Household of the (then) Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

In 2020, Catherine decided to fulfil a long-held ambition to work in non-executive roles with organisations in both private and public sectors. In addition to CPI, she is also a non-executive director on the boards of the National Physical Laboratory and the Copyright Licensing Agency; Deputy Chair of the COVID 19 Inquiry Audit and Risk Committee; and a Trustee of The Royal Academy of Dance.