Katherine Kuhns

Dr. Katherine Kuhns is the executive director of the Stanford Global Studies Division, a position she has held for 11 years as part of a 30-year career in international program development and management. She has a Ph.D. in international and comparative education from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education; an M.A. in international relations and economics from Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies; and a B.A. in Russian and Soviet studies and economics from the University of Arizona. Her dissertation research focused on higher education reform efforts in Russia as part of a larger comparative project between Brazil, Russia, India and China and she is the co-author of the resulting book, Triumph of the BRIC’s (Stanford University Press, 2012).

Over the course of her career, Dr. Kuhns pursued studies in Russian and Kazakh language and culture in Kazakhstan; oversaw several educational and research exchange programs in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan; and worked at the American consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she followed political and economic changes in the northwestern region of Russia after being awarded a Fascell Fellowship at the U.S. Department of State. Before joining SGS, Dr. Kuhns also directed the Freeman Spogli Institute’s Initiative on Distance Learning program as well as its international education outreach initiatives at Stanford.