Kathleen Sullivan Brown, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the College of Education at the University of Missouri St. Louis. Dr. Brown earned a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Washington University in 1995. She is also a Fellow of the University’s Public Policy Research Center.

Dr. Brown studies educational policies and practices, especially those involving state and national reform agendas. She has authored or co-authored over twenty research studies, articles, book chapters, and monographs. She has presented over fifty papers and scholarly presentations at state, national and international professional meetings. Her educational research interests are broad in part because of her background in sociology, psychology, political science, and economics. Dr. Brown’s undergraduate and Master’s degree focused on Urban Studies, an interdisciplinary programs in urban studies at Washington University.

Before coming to UM St. Louis, she was a Planning Research Analyst, conducting surveys and designing action plans for low-income housing, recreation, historic preservation and other community development projects in the St. Louis metropolitan area. She also served for two years as Director of Teacher Professional Development for the Cooperating School Districts, a 50-member association of St. Louis area school districts. From 1999-2005, Dr. Brown has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Holmes Partnership, a national consortium of universities and schools dedicated to education reform. The University of Missouri selected Dr. Brown as a New Faculty Teaching Scholar in 2001-2002.