Catherine Eva Hughes CMG (née Pestell; 24 September 1933 – 10 December 2014) was a British diplomat and academic administrator.
[4] Two of her history tutors recognised her academic excellence, encouraged her to apply for St Hilda's, Oxford, a women-only college, in 1952.
After another stint in London, this time for five years, she was made First Secretary for the prestigious Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
She was asked in 1975 to take the tough role of negotiator in East Berlin missions in a divided city during the Cold War détente, having as a visiting fellow to St Anthony's already established an international reputation.
The fellows of Somerville, who included the Prime Minister, were strongly opposed to any dilution of the last bastion of femininity at the most ancient university in the British Isles.
She and her husband, Trevor Hughes's wonderfully generosity to Somerville on behalf of students and Fellows has made a significant difference.