Katherine Kuhns

The Stanford Global Studies Division is a natural fit for Kate’s academic background and interests. Kate has a Ph.D. in International and Comparative Education from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. Her dissertation focused on higher education reform efforts in Russia as part of a larger comparative project between Brazil, Russia, India and China that sought to understand how these countries are preparing their institutions of higher education for the knowledge economy. She is co-author of the resulting book, Triumph of the BRIC’s (Stanford University Press, 2012).

Kate received a B.A. in Russian and Soviet studies and economics from the University of Arizona in 1990. After receiving her degree, she traveled to Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan to pursue studies in Russian and Kazakh language and culture. She then returned to the University of Arizona to oversee several educational and research exchange programs in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. In 1993 she was awarded a Fascell Fellowship at the U.S. Department of State to work at the American consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she followed political and economic changes in the northwestern region of Russia.

After returning to the United States, she entered the M.A. program in international relations and economics at Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International Studies. After successfully completing her degree, she joined the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford, where she directed FSI’s Initiative on Distance Learning program as well as its international education outreach initiatives.

Overall, Kate has almost 30 years of experience in international program development and management, particularly in the former Soviet Union. When Kate is not curled up with a good book, she can be found in the numerous Open Space Preserves on the peninsula, or in the backcountry of a local National Park.