Kathleen Buse | Weatherhead School at Case Western Reserve University
Executive Education Instructors
Kathleen Buse

Kathleen Buse, PhD

Adjunct Professor
Weatherhead School of Management

Starting at the Eastman Kodak Company as an engineer, Kathleen Buse has worked in various technical and management roles for more than 25 years. As an engineer, she has developed new products, designed new systems and led continuous improvement of products and processes. She has managed engineering, operations, IT, plant and facilities maintenance, product development and quality functions. Areas of technical expertise include manufacturing and associated engineered processes such as new product development and technology transfer, systems design, applied automation and controls, information systems, quality systems and process safety management.

Buse obtained her PhD in management: Designing Sustainable Systems from Weatherhead. Her research interests have been framed by her practical experience in technology-driven and male-dominated organizations. Her research has focused on women who persist in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) professions and has examined leadership development, women in leadership and women’s careers—especially women in engineering and other STEM fields.

Buse’s work focuses on understanding the complex factors involved with retaining women in engineering and other STEM careers. She has presented her award-winning research at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, the Society of Women Engineers Annual Conference for Women Engineers and Case Western Reserve University’s Research ShowCASE.

Before earning her PhD at CWRU, Buse earned her BS in chemical engineering and engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University and an MS in electrical engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. She teaches as an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve in both the Weatherhead School of Management and the Institute for Management and Engineering. She teaches classes on product design, materials and manufacturing, marketing and research practices. Buse also works as a management consultant and career coach specifically targeting women in leadership and STEM careers.

Buse lives in Mentor, Ohio, with her husband Fred. They have three children: a daughter who is an engineer at Boston Scientific Corporation, a son majoring in engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and a daughter who is in high school.