Noel Stott was educated in Cape Town. He obtained his B.A. and B.Bibl (Hons) degrees as well as Higher and Final Diplomas in Library and Information Science from the University of Cape Town UCT). In the 1980s and 1990s he was employed by UCT in various librarian and research capacities. Noel Stott also worked for the Southern African Catholic Bishop's Conference (SACBC) and the Institute of Contextual Theology (ICT) as a Documentation, Communications and Research Officer. He was also one of the founding members of the South African History Archive (SAHA), where he spent almost 20 years serving as a volunteer Board member of the SAHA Trust and its various management structures. Noel's involvement in SAHA'S activities also included collecting 'struggle' material and representing the Trust on fact-finding/study tours/missions as well as securing founding. Since 2002, he has worked for the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) with a focus on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation with particular reference to Africa's development and the threat of weapons of mass destruction.