Deriving her desire for teaching from her familial history, Katie K. Gallagher was inspired by her grandmother to pursue a professional career in education. After receiving a Master of Business Administration from Creighton University in 1987, she went on to work for Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska. Hired in 1988, she excelled as a professor and remained in the position for a notable 11 years. Subsequently, she was employed by Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas, in 1991 as a professor of business – a position she still holds today. In her role, she has created an Introduction to Business course in which she teaches economics, accounting and other business principles. Worthwhile for business students, her course is accredited to transfer to numerous other academic institutions.

Ms. Gallagher has always enjoyed watching her students learn complex business issues, as she emphasizes that every student – regardless of their major – should leverage a business course to apply to their academic and professional pursuits. In light of her outstanding body of work, she received the Freedom Foundation Good Citizen Award and was previously named a Sam Walton Fellow.

Engaged to her fiancé, Ms. Gallagher was born on January 29, 1954, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She has four children: Luke, Holly, Grant and Kelly. Three of her children are doctors and one is an executive for a Japanese corporation. A doting grandmother, she also has seven grandchildren.

Looking toward the future, Ms. Gallagher intends to retire from teaching on December 31, 2020. Post-retirement, she wants to travel to several locations with her fiancé, including to South America, Ireland and Petra, Jordan. A steadfast Democrat, she is contemplating working within the health care industry with the Democratic Party or running for her local office.