Kathleen James is the Chief Administrative Officer of the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Dr. James returned to the Department of Commerce where she previously served in the Office of Training and Knowledge Management, Office of the Secretary. She directly oversees the communication and administrative functions of the Bureau. Dr. James was Deputy Director of Administration at the National Labor Relations Board immediately before joining the BEA staff. She has been involved in administrative management, training, and instructional technology since 1974.
After having taught at the junior high/high school, university, and adult levels for ten years, she managed a university media center and was tapped to plan and direct a residential language immersion program for a hundred students studying seven languages at the University of Maryland. She left academia in 1992 to join the Department of State at the Foreign Service Institute where she served in progressively more responsible positions as Language Training Supervisor, Director of Multimedia and Library Services, and Associate Dean for Management. She initiated and expanded a cutting edge distance learning curriculum beginning in 1995 that boasts over one hundred custom-designed self-study and instructor-led online courses. She contributed directly to the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative by analyzing and proposing new hiring policies and training opportunities for Foreign Service Officers.
Dr. James is an administrative generalist with extensive financial and administrative management, supervisory, and workforce development expertise. She earned an M.A. from Purdue University and a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland at College Park.
