[1][2] Her father was a German Jew who had fled to the United States in 1938, later co-founding the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

While at Dartmouth, Krauthamer organized and led rallies against apartheid in South Africa, later switching her major to government.

Krauthamer has also edited Major Problems in African American History, a prominent textbook in the field.

In this role, she "created multiple fellowship and mentoring programs designed to support the recruitment and retention of traditionally underrepresented graduate students".

[14] She had previously served as graduate program director in the department of history, where she advocated for increased diversity and changes to the admissions and funding processes for doctoral students.