Katharine Strunk serves as Dean and George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education at Penn GSE. Dean Strunk is a nationally renowned expert in school and district improvement, teacher labor markets, and assessment of student achievement. Dean Strunk came to Penn GSE in 2023, having most recently served as director of the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University, which partners with the Michigan Department of Education and school districts to craft targeted research in areas prioritized by policymakers and educators. She holds a Ph.D. in Education Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University.

Under Dean Strunk’s leadership, Penn GSE is forming a strategic vision to strengthen the education workforce, deepen longstanding partnerships in Philadelphia, across the state, and worldwide, embrace hard conversations to strengthen democratic society, and continue the school’s 110-year legacy of pushing  boundaries of knowledge and practice to meet the needs of learners, educators, and communities.