Kathryn Sullivan ’81
Senior Advisor, National Science Foundation

Kathryn Sullivan
Kathryn Sullivan is a senior executive at the National Science Foundation (NSF). She joined NSF in 2003 serving as the Deputy Director of the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and subsequently as Acting OISE Director.

Since 2008, as Senior Advisor in the NSF Director’s Office of Integrative Activities, Kathryn oversees the development and execution of cross-Foundational and interagency initiatives.  As the appointed NSF Liaison, she orchestrates the Foundation’s engagement with the White House National Science and Technology Council; the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable; and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. 

Prior to working at NSF, Kathryn served in a number of other positions within the U.S government including: Special Assistant for International Affairs in the Office of the Vice President; Senior Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; NASA Representative at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo; Acting Director of the Office of International Technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce; Program Director of International Affairs in the Deputy Secretary of Commerce’s Office of Space Commerce; and Assistant for Non-Proliferation to the Assistant Secretary in the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Export Administration. 

She was a Robert Bosch Fellow—working at the German Parliament and subsequently at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin. 

She holds degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (M.A.) and Wellesley College (B.A.).