Sir Charles Richard Arthur Catlow FRS FRSC FInstP FLSW (born 24 April 1947) is a British chemist and professor at University College London and Cardiff University.^{[6][3][7][8][9]} Previously, he was Director of the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory (1998–2007),^[10] and Wolfson Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution.^[1][11] Since 2016, he has served as the foreign secretary of the Royal Society.^{[12][13][14][15]}, and since 2021 as President of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP).^[16]

He earned a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in 1970 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1974, from St John's College, University of Oxford.^[4][17]

Catlow has developed and applied computer models to solid state and materials chemistry.^[15] By combining his computational methods with experiments, Catlow has made contributions to areas as diverse as catalysis and mineralogy.^[15]

His approach has advanced understanding of how defects (missing or extra atoms) in the structure of solids can result in non-stoichiometric compounds.^[15] Such compounds have special electrical or chemical properties since their contributing elements are present in slightly different proportions to those predicted by chemical formulae.^[15]

Catlow's work has offered insight into mechanisms of industrial catalysts, especially involving microporous materials and metal oxides.^[15] In structural chemistry and mineralogy, simulation methods are now routinely used to predict the structures of complex solids and silicates respectively, following Catlow's demonstrations of their power.^[15]