Photo credit: Joe McFetridge for Penn GSE
Ask Me Anything: Katharine Strunk
Beyond her professional accomplishments and extensive CV, who is Penn GSE’s new dean?
by Rebecca Raber
Photo credit: Joe McFetridge for Penn GSE
hen Katharine Strunk joined Penn GSE as dean in July, she brought with her decades of experience as an educator, policy researcher, and expert on teacher labor markets, school and district improvement and accountability, and student achievement. But Dean Strunk is more than just her many accomplishments. In the year ahead, we will have much to share about the new dean’s vision for the School’s future, but first, we hope this Reddit-style AMA (Ask Me Anything), will help you get to know the woman behind the work. Sourced from Instagram—are you following @penngse?—and from folks across campus, these questions represent some of the silly and serious things our community wanted to know about its new leader.
PENN GSE: What’s the first word you think of when you think of Penn GSE?
KATHARINE STRUNK: Impact.
GSE: Why?
KS: Because one of the things that drew me to Penn GSE—and that has been clear to me from the conversations I’ve been having with faculty and staff and students—is that everybody here wants to make a positive impact on the world, whether it be through kids in schools, through kids in community programs, or through [supporting] educators or leaders. That is the defining focus of GSE: how do we make positive change?
GSE: What area of education brings you the most joy?
KS: I would have said, for a long time, thinking about education policy. But I have been doing some research on early literacy, and I’m thinking a lot more now about instruction inside elementary school classrooms.
GSE: What’s your favorite travel destination?
KS: My favorite trip that we’ve ever taken was to Patagonia in Chile and Argentina. But as a consistent travel destination? I grew up in the Bay Area in Northern California, and the Sierras [Sierra Nevada mountains] will always be the place that makes my heart sing.
GSE: Do you have any hobbies?
KS: I run. I have two dogs: Dodger, because we’re big baseball fans in my family and we lived right near Dodger Stadium when we lived in L.A., and Ollie is the [name of the] second one, but only because I wouldn’t let my kids name him Mookie. And so, we run, and we do a lot of hiking as a family. We like to bike and to be outdoors. And I’m a big reader. I love to read a good novel. That’s how I relax.
GSE: What was the last good book you read?
KS: One of the last good books I read was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow [by Gabrielle Zevin]—that was amazing. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks. I just listened to American Dirt [by Jeanine Cummins], which was phenomenal. I highly suggest everyone read it.
Dean Strunk’s sons at the Liberty Bell
GSE: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
GSE: I wanted to be a singer.
KS: Do you still sing?
GSE: No. I used to sing pretty seriously, but I have not done that in a long time. But I sing a lot to my kids [twins Bryce and Cole, now 11]. My kids were in the NICU for six weeks when they were born, and so it was like a concert every day for all the babies in the NICU because all I could do was sing to them. My parents always said that my kids got lots of concerts for their whole life, growing up.
GSE: What are your guilty pleasures?
KS: I love Sour Patch Kids. It’s dangerous when they’re near me. I will eat them all. One of my sons has become quite the baker, which is unfortunate for me, because he’ll make these cookies and cakes and then I eat them all. Also, I always said I would never let a dog sleep in my bed. But have you seen Dodger? Who could resist?
GSE: What was your favorite class in school?
KS: My favorite class in college was a freshman seminar on controversies in literature. It was very cool. It was taught by an anthropology professor and presented through the frame of an anthropology course. If I had not been a policy major, I was going be an anthropology major.
Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation
KS: My favorite Philly spot so far is probably the Wissahickon [Valley Park]. It’s so gorgeous. I had no idea I was going to get that kind of park here. I also love the Schuylkill River Trail and Boathouse Row on Kelly Drive—those are beautiful. For my bucket list, I really want to go to the Magic Gardens [mosaicked community art space]. And we want to go see a show at the Kimmel Center.
GSE: What was your first job?
KS: I babysat. But my first “real job” was as a teacher in a Making Waves Summer Bridge program, where I taught math and music to fourth graders in the Bay Area.
GSE: What have you learned from all of your different jobs?
KS: I learned that it’s all about the people. Every single job—whether it’s been as a waitress or as a tutor or as a teacher or as a babysitter or working at a nonprofit or working in policy—it’s always about the people with whom you work and the people whom you’re trying to serve.
GSE: What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?
KS: I’m proudest of the work we were able to do at EPIC [Michigan State University’s Education Policy Innovation Collaborative] to help the state think through how to safely bring kids back into the classroom during the pandemic. And our work on the impacts of the pandemic on kids—emotionally, academically, all around—and on educators, and how they might develop programs and interventions to help educators and kids recover.
KS: Pie, for sure! Hands down. Pumpkin pie, lemon meringue pie, or berry pie. In fact, when I was little, my birthday cakes were always pumpkin pies because I’m born in November.
GSE: How will you engage with current PhD students?
KS: It’s a great question. First of all, we have always welcomed the first-year doctoral students with a lunch, and I’m really looking forward to this year’s. I am excited to come to research talks when I’m able to and to be able to be part of that community. One of the things I definitely want to do is find a way to connect more with all of our students at GSE. Right now, I’m thinking through how to make sure that I’m getting to hear and understand the different voices of all our students.
KS: One of the things that attracted me to Penn GSE was this idea of impact, [particularly locally]. So, one of my priorities is thinking through how we work closely with our community partners, including the school district, to help address their needs. We have one of the best schools of education in the country, and we are right here in Philadelphia. I think it’s our responsibility and our privilege to work with our community partners to help improve outcomes for kids.