Dame Louise Livingstone Martin, DBE (''née'' Campbell; born 1946) is the President of the

Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is governing body of the ...

(CGF). She is also a Scottish sports administrator, retired athlete, nutritionist and former educator. She has previously chaired the

Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland Scotland is one of only six countries to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since the first Empire Games in 1930. The others are Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand and Wales. The Commonwealth Games is the only major multi-sport eve ...

and

SportScotland Sportscotland (officially styled sport), formerly the Scottish Sports Council, is the national agency for sport in Scotland. The Scottish Sports Council was established in 1972 by royal charter. The body works in partnership with public, pri ...

, headed Scotland's successful bid to host the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

and played a key role in their organisation.

Career

Martin was born in 1946 in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

. In the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

, aged 16, she competed in the 110 yards

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

and 220 yards backstroke and reached the finals in both."Louise Martin pivotal in smoothing the way for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games"
''The Herald Scotland'', 29 December 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2019. She subsequently attended the Edinburgh College of Domestic Science, receiving a

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

in domestic science and food nutrition. She lectured there from 1969 to 1972, before teaching at

Glenrothes High School Glenrothes High School is a six-year non-denominational secondary school of approximately 860 pupils located in Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. The school serves the western/central and northern precincts of Glenrothes drawing primarily from four fee ...

and then, from 1973, at the

Millburn Academy Millburn Academy ( Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Allt a' Mhuilinn'') is a six-year secondary school in Inverness, Scotland. It serves the portion of Inverness east of the River Ness along with rural areas to the south of the city's reach, with a catc ...

."Martin, Louise Livingstone"
''Who's Who'' (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2018). Retrieved 5 June 2019. She married in 1973, adopting her husband Ian's surname, stopped teaching in 1975, and had two children. Financially secure thanks to her husband's successful furniture business, Martin turned to sports coaching and management. In 1990, she became a tutor with the National Coaching Foundation. She was President of Scottish Gymnastics from 1993 until 1999, and progressed to join the board of the

in 1995; four years later, she became its first female Chair, serving until 2007. As Chair, she was instrumental in securing Glasgow's bid to host the

, and as Vice-Chair of the organising committee was "a hugely influential figure in the successful delivery of the Games"."New Year Honours 2019 – High Awards"
(HM Government, 31 December 2018), p. 3. She also chaired

from 2008 until 2016, during which time she was responsible for managing an increased budget ahead of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, including £30 million of investment in new facilities. She also served as the Secretary of the CGF from 1999 to 2015, and since 2015 has been the CGF's President.

Honours and awards

In the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

, Martin was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

"for services to the Commonwealth Games"; she was promoted to Dame Commander in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

"for services to sport"."Full Scottish Honours List 2018"
''The Herald Scotland'', 29 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019. She holds

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

s from

Abertay University , mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom." , established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology , type = Public , chancellor = Alice Brown , principal = Liz Bacon , head_label = Chair of C ...

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University ( gd, Oilthigh Chailleannach Ghlaschu, ), informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley, is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and G ...

, the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

, the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

, and

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

. In 2002, she was named UK Sports Administrator of the Year by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''.

Career

Honours and awards

References

See also