Dr Catherine Eagleton

Dr Catherine (Katie) Eagleton is University Librarian and Director of Collections and Museums, and Co-Director for the MLitt in Museum and Heritage Studies. Alongside these roles, she continues to research topics relating to museums and collections, and supervises a number of doctoral students, especially on interdisciplinary topics.

Before joining the University of St Andrews in 2019, Katie worked in a number of national cultural institutions, including the Science Museum, British Museum and British Library in the UK, and the Smithsonian Institution in the USA. She is passionate about opening up cultural heritage collections to the widest possible audiences, and the potential of digital tools and technologies for advancing the purpose and mission of cultural organisations. She is also interested in strategic foresight, to look beyond the short term in complex and changeable contexts.

Katie has a number of advisory appointments, including to the Steering Group for the AHRC Towards a National Collection programme and the Research Expert Group for the AHRC-DCMS Culture and Heritage Capital research programme. She is a member of the Designation Panel for Arts Council England, board member and trustee for Research Libraries UK, trustee and Vice Chair for Fife Cultural Trust, and the inaugural Chair of the new Museum Data Service.