Dr. Kate Shaw

Harrisburg, PA

Dr. Kate Shaw’s career has focused on creating more accessible, equitable, and effective postsecondary education systems. She currently serves as the Deputy Secretary and Commissioner for Postsecondary Education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Prior to that, she served as Senior Advisor at HCM Strategists, a national policy development firm that partners with more than two dozen states to strengthen their postsecondary systems, their finances, and their capacity to serve as economic and workforce development engines. For more than a decade, Dr. Shaw led Research for Action, a Philadelphia-based education research organization that conducts applied research in Pennsylvania and across the nation.

She previously served as Deputy Secretary for Postsecondary and Higher Education in the administration of Governor Ed Rendell, where she oversaw the implementation of a wide range of policy initiatives. Shaw was also previously a faculty member at Temple University, where she was tenured and served as the Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. She was elected twice to the Board of the West Chester Area School District.

Dr. Shaw received her undergraduate degree from Colby College and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.