Cathy Clum

Cathy Clum is passionate about making STEM subjects interesting, relevant, and accessible to students. She comes to Taos Charter School after having served as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State for almost 22 years. During her time as a diplomat, she worked primarily in the countries of the former Soviet Union and in the Persian Gulf area. In 2017, Cathy and her husband, Dave, started looking for places to permanently settle down and decided to make Taos their home. They purchased their home outside of Penasco in 2018 and have been living there full-time since 2022.

During that same time, Cathy started working on getting credentials for the career she had always wanted to pursue from childhood: teaching. She started an Electronic Engineering bachelor’s degree through Eastern New Mexico University, which she completed in December 2024. In addition to that degree, she also has a bachelor’s in biology from Colorado State University and a master’s in computer information systems from the University of Colorado –Denver. Prior to the State Department, she also worked in the medical and financial services industries.

Between them, Cathy and her husband raised 5 children, most of whom currently live in the Denver area near where she also grew up. In her free time, Cathy enjoys 3-d printing, programming micro-controllers, and painting landscapes using acrylics. Cathy and Dave share their home with cats, Lara and Helen, and dog Ben.