Kate Starbird

Born Catherine Evelyn Starbird on July 30, 1975, in West Point, New York, Kate Starbird grew up in a military family before excelling in basketball at Lakes High School in Lakewood, Washington. A Parade All-American first team selection and Kodak All-America MVP in 1993, she also earned MVP honors at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association High School All-America Game. Starbird continued her collegiate career at Stanford University, playing guard for the Stanford Cardinal from 1993 to 1997. During this time, she helped lead her team to three consecutive Final Four appearances from 1995 to 1997. She was named Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year in 1996 and outright Player of the Year in 1997. That same year, she received the Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA Women’s National Player of the Year, and WBCA Player of the Year awards. Upon graduation, she held Stanford’s program record with 2,215 career points, a record that stood for 11 years.

Following her successful college tenure, Starbird embarked on a professional basketball career. She was selected fourth overall by the Seattle Reign in the 1997 ABL draft, where she played two seasons, averaging 12.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 59 games. After the ABL’s closure, she was drafted by the Sacramento Monarchs in the third round of the 1999 WNBA Draft, playing 24 games. In 2000, she was picked by the Miami Sol in the expansion draft and then traded to the Utah Starzz, where she played for three seasons. She also played internationally in France and Austria during WNBA offseasons. In 2002, she was traded to the Seattle Storm, achieving a career-high average of 5.9 points before being waived in 2003. Her WNBA career concluded with the Indiana Fever in 2004, and she continued playing in Spain with Adecco Estudiantes Madrid and PDV Ibiza until 2006.

Upon retiring from professional basketball, Starbird pursued an academic career, having previously earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Stanford in 1997. She received her Ph.D. in Technology, Media, and Society from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2012, with her thesis focusing on how connected crowds organize information during mass disruption events. In September 2012, she joined the University of Washington’s Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering, where she directs the Emerging Capacities of Mass Participation (emCOMP) lab. Promoted to associate professor in 2019, her research investigates disinformation and online rumor spread during crises, operating at the intersection of computer science and social science.