Kathleen Straus (D-Detroit) was first elected to the State Board of Education in November 1992, and re-elected in November 2000, beginning her second eight-year term on January 1, 2001.  She is serving her fourth term as President, elected by her peers.

Mrs. Straus has committed the majority of her life to the furthering of public education and community services in Michigan.  She has a strong interest in curriculum, assessment, and raising the standards for all students across the state.  A frequent visitor to schools and classrooms, Mrs. Straus often spends time with parents, educators and others discussing educational policy and reform efforts to keep in touch with what's going on in the field.

Until her retirement in 1991, Mrs. Straus was president of the Center for Creative Studies, a nationally recognized arts education institution in Detroit.  Prior to that, she was director of government relations for the Michigan Association of School Boards, and served as staff director of the Education Committee of the Michigan Senate.  She was the executive director of PRO Detroit (People and Responsible Organizations for Detroit), a community-wide coalition of business, labor, civic groups, and schools established to assure that court-ordered desegregation would be implemented smoothly and peacefully.  She previously worked in the administration of Detroit Mayor Jerome P. Cavanagh, and for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.

Mrs. Straus served on the State Board for Public Junior and Community Colleges prior to being elected to the State Board of Education, was one of Michigan's representatives to the Education Commission of the States, and a delegate to the Congressional Conference on Civic Education.

An active community leader, Mrs. Straus serves on several boards.  She is a long time member of the Board of Trustees of the Detroit Science Center.  She is also on the Board of Directors of ArtServe Michigan, and on the Board of Communities in Schools-Detroit.

Mrs. Straus is a member of the Executive Board of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion (formerly NCCJ); and she is a past President of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit.

Mrs. Straus formerly served as a board member of the Michigan Women's Studies Association.  She is a former president of the League of Women Voters of Detroit and a member of the Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters of Michigan.

Mrs. Straus is listed in "Who's Who of American Women" and "Who's Who in Education."  She has been elected to the Hall of Fame of Hunter College, and the Michigan Education Hall of Fame in 1994.  She received the "Distinguished Warrior" Award from the Detroit Urban League in March of 2000.  She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in October, 2000.  In 2004 she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Anti Defamation League.

She began her career as an Economist for the United States Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., and with the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

Mrs. Straus earned her B.A. degree in economics from Hunter College, New York; and was a member of Alpha Chi Alpha, Social Science Honor Society.  She has pursued graduate studies at several universities.

She is the mother of two adult children and has four grandchildren.