It is with profound sadness that the Stimson Center announces the death of one of our own, Caitlyn Antrim. Caitlyn passed away on July 28th, in Kingston, Jamaica where she was attending the 24th session of the International Seabed Authority Assembly.
Caitlyn was a Nonresident Fellow of the Stimson Center and the Executive Director of the Rule of Law Committee on the Oceans, a group of scholars and practitioners in ocean law and diplomacy. Previously, Caitlyn represented the US Department of Commerce at the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1982, served as Repair Officer and Damage Control Assistant on the USS Schofield (FFG-3), and earned the professional degree of Engineer from the Department of Ocean Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Caitlyn was a fierce advocate of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and she dedicated much of her life to encouraging the United States to become party to the Convention.
She will be missed by all of us at the Stimson Center.
“The clear analysis and knowledge she brought to ocean law issues and the process of international negotiation — from 1978 when she first came to UNCLOS meetings to present the MIT/Harvard team’s economic analysis of deep seabed mining to the present — demonstrate not only that facts and analysis matter but also that they can be presented in a way that facilitates informed discussion and compromise to reach viable solutions. Caitlyn never wavered from that belief and practiced it widely. We will miss her.”
– Lee A. Kimball
“More than any one person, Caitlyn kept alive the essential discussion of the Law of the Sea issues that have lingered in limbo far too long. Her devotion to the vital mission embedded in the treaty and related matters was simply unparalleled, and her service to America’s national interest in a rules-based management of the oceans was distinguished in the highest degree.”
– Alton Frye, Presidential Senior Fellow Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations
“Caitlyn’s work in advancing consideration of the Law of the Sea convention in the United States and in following the UNCLOS developments around the world was incessant and invariably articulated in a powerful and compelling way. Her dedication and steadfast commitment to the rule of law in the oceans was an inspiration to us all.”
-Biliana Cicin-Sain, Director, Gerard J. Mangone Center for Marine Policy Professor of Marine Policy