Lecturer and Senior Advisor in Human & Planetary Health
Woodside, California
Katherine States Burke, MBA, MSc, is the Human and Planetary Health Lead at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, advancing efforts at the intersection of human health and the environment. Previously, she was Deputy Director of Stanford’s Center for Innovation in Global Health, where she leads efforts in three focus areas: women’s leadership, planetary health, and initiatives aimed at vulnerable populations. In 2017 Kathy played a key role in creating and leading the inaugural “Women Leaders in Global Health” conference, sparking a global movement and an ongoing partnership between Stanford and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University, Kathy began her career as a reporter, editor and publishing executive. In the past decade, she pursued a longstanding fascination with the health sector, earning a Master of Science in Global Health Sciences from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She also holds an MBA in Finance from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Kathy enjoys the steep part of the learning curve and the interfaces of disciplines and sectors. She is passionate about creating cross-cutting teams to address big social problems. Ms. Burke serves on the board of Dean’s Advisers at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and the Stanford University Libraries’ Advisory Council.
She and her husband, Bob Burke, live in Woodside, California and are the parents of three adult sons.
Partner: T. Robert Burke