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Catherine Stihler | |
|---|---|
 Stihler in 2014 | |
| Member of the European Parliament forScotland | |
| In office 10 June 1999 – 31 January 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Louis Stedman-Bryce |
| Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews | |
| In office October 2014 – October 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Alistair Moffat |
| Succeeded by | Srđa Popović |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1973-07-30)30 July 1973 (age 52) Bellshill,North Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | David |
| Alma mater | University of St Andrews |
| Profession | CEO ofCreative Commons (2020-2024) |
Catherine Dalling Taylor StihlerOBE FRSE (néeTaylor; born 30 July 1973) is a Scottish former politician who waschief executive officer (CEO) ofCreative Commons from 2020 to 2023. A member of theScottish Labour Party, she was aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) forScotland from1999 to2019.
In October 2014, she was elected as the 52ndrector of theUniversity of St Andrews, the second woman to hold that post.
After leaving the European Parliament, she was CEO of non-profit organisationOpen Knowledge Foundation and from August 2020 to January 2024 CEO ofCreative Commons. She was succeeded byAnna Tumadóttir.
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Stihler was educated atColtness High School, later going to theUniversity of St Andrews, where she gained anMA with jointhonours inInternational Relations andGeography and a postgraduateMLitt in International Security Studies. In 2018, she received an honorary Doctorate (D. Litt) from the University of St. Andrews.
Stihler was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2019 Birthday Honours.[1]
In 2022, she was elected Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh.[2]
Whilst a student at St Andrews, she was elected president of theStudents' Association, from 1994–95. She also was on theScottish Executive Committee of the Labour Party from 1993–95 and was theYoung Labour delegate to theNational Executive Committee from 1995–97. Whilst a postgraduate student, she stood at theAngus constituency at the1997 general election. She was not elected however, and finished in third place, behind Sebastian A.A. Leslie of the Conservatives andAndrew Welsh of the Scottish National Party.
Stihler worked forAnne Begg,Member of Parliament forAberdeen South, as a researcher. She was placed at third on the Labour Party list forScotland in the1999 European Parliament election, and therefore took the third Labour Party seat under the d'Hondt electoral system becoming the UK's youngest MEP at the age of 25.[citation needed]
Stihler was re-elected as an MEP for Scotland in 2004 and 2009. She was the unsuccessful Labour candidate in the2006 Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, coming second with 30.6% of the vote.[3] She served as the Deputy Leader of the EPLP and held positions as Labour's Euro spokesperson on health and fisheries. Stihler was Labour's Euro-Spokesperson on Consumer Rights and was the only Scottish MEP on the economic and monetary affairs committee.
She supportedOwen Smith in the2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[4]
She resigned as an MEP on 31 January 2019, to take up a new role. Her seat was left vacant and not filled by the Scottish Labour Party due to the UK's [then] impending exit from The EU on 29 March 2019.
In November 2018, Stihler was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer ofOpen Knowledge Foundation.[5][6] She stood down as an MEP on 31 January 2019 to take up the role in February 2019. On 9 July 2020,Creative Commons announced she would be the new CEO with a starting date of 17 August 2020.[7] Stihler left her role at the end of December 2023.[8]
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Rector of the University of St Andrews 2014—2017 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Young Labour representative on theNational Executive Committee of the Labour Party 1995–1997 | Succeeded by Sarah Ward |