Karen S. Thornton
biography :: conference marerials
Karen S. Thornton is the program director of
the Hinman Campus Entrepreneurship Opportunities (CEOs) Program, the first-of-its-kind
living-learning entrepreneurship program at the University of Maryland. She
has been managing the program’s day-to-day activities and providing strategic
direction along with the faculty director since its launch in fall 2000. Ms.
Thornton is also the associate director of the VentureCatalyst (VC) Program,
the broad set of educational programs in the Clark School of Engineering designed
to spur and support the commercialization of technology through education, networking,
and hands-on incubation at the university. Prior to her current positions, Ms.
Thornton has also held positions in external relations and human resources in
the A. James Clark School of Engineering, and in a corporate human resources
department for an international engineering firm. She was a concert musician
and university lecturer for fifteen years, and a Fulbright Scholar. She earned
bachelor's and master's of music degrees ('71, '72) from Florida State University,
ARCM ('75) from the Royal College of Music, London, and an MBA ('98) from the
University of Maryland.