13th president (October 1, 2002 – June 30, 2007)
Born: November 6, 1942
Karen Holbrook came to Columbus from the University of Georgia, where she served as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, professor of cell biology, and adjunct professor of anatomy and cell biology and medicine at the Medical College of Georgia. Before that, she was at the University of Florida at Gainesville and the University of Washington School of Medicine. She spent the majority of her academic career as a professor of biological structure and medicine and gained a national reputation for her expertise in human fetal skin development and genetic skin disease.
Holbrook earned bachelor's and master's degrees in zoology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a doctorate in biological structure from the University of Washington School of Medicine, where she pursued postdoctoral training in the Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology.