Katharina Häusler-Gross joined the Aquinas faculty in the fall of 1998. She earned her Ph.D. in German and Cultural Studies at Michigan State University, holds a teaching degree in English and Russian from the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald/Germany, studied at the State University Odessa (Ukraine), and completed her Second State Exam in English and German at the Berliner Senatsverwaltung (Senate of Berlin/ Germany).

Dr. Häusler-Gross came to the U.S. as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching German and Russian at Westminster College, PA. Additional teaching experiences include teaching foreign languages in K-12 (Germany), college level German (Michigan State University, Universität Tübingen), and German as a Foreign Language (DaF) at the Goethe-Institute, Chicago.

At Aquinas, Dr. Häusler-Gross is Head of the German Program, where she teaches all levels - from beginning language to advanced content courses, German Literature, Culture and Civilization, Business German, and Studies of German Culture and Society through Film. In collaboration with other academic departments on campus she also teaches interdisciplinary coursework on the European Union and coordinates the Methodology courses (French, German, and Spanish) for Teaching Foreign Languages in K-8 and Secondary Schools.

As a Volunteer Teacher at the German Language School of West Michigan, Dr. Häusler-Gross keeps promoting the German language and culture in the Grand Rapids Area and offers children the opportunity to learn and expand their knowledge of German and engage in cross-cultural exchanges.

Her scholarly interests include research in Second Language Acquisition (Second Language Reading), German and Cultural Studies, Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching, and European Studies. Most recently, she has spearheaded the task force to implement a European Studies major at Aquinas. Her love for other languages and cultures keeps her traveling extensively throughout Eastern and Western Europe and the United States.