High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Karen A. Holbrook (born November 6, 1942 in Des Moines, Iowa) was the 13th presiding president of The Ohio State University. She took office on October 1, 2002, replacing Interim President Edward H. Jennings. Holbrook earned her B.S. and M.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in zoology. After teaching biology at Ripon College, she earned a Ph.D. in biological structure from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1972, then pursued further training in dermatology. She is an alumna of Gamma Phi Beta sorority.