Karen Ann Hunter

Karen Ann Hunter of Black Rock, Bridgeport passed away peacefully on May 31st 2018 after a prolonged illness. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Patrick Bowen and is survived by her brother, David B. Kalayjian, M.D. and his wife Marcia of Singer Island, Florida, her stepson Harvey S. Bowen and his wife Kimberly of Seattle, Washington, and multiple nieces and nephews. Karen was born August 16th 1945 in Philadelphia, PA and raised in Franklin Hills, Michigan.
Karen received a BA in history from the College of Wooster and master's degrees in history, library science, and business administration from Cornell, Syracuse and Columbia Universities respectively.
For more than 40 years she worked in the publishing business based out of New York City. She rose to the level of Senior Vice-President at publisher Reed-Elsevier, where she was deeply engaged in the transition from print journals to digital and online journal content. Karen was committed to building bridges between publishers and librarians over the course of her career. She served on numerous industry boards, including CrossRef, ORCID, CLOCKSS, International DOI Foundation and Copyright Clearance Center. She was the first publisher to receive the honor of the CSA/Ulrich's Serials Librarianship Award and was the initiator of the American Libraries Association Digital Libraries Symposium which in 2014 was renamed the Karen Hunter Forum in her honor.
Karen was an innovative and collaborative leader who was a trusted mentor for numerous women in scientific publishing. Always gracious with her time and straight-forward with her advice, Karen was invested in helping other women advance their careers. Through her pioneering roles as product, strategy and senior executive leader, she cleared a path for all women in the industry.
Travel, reading, music, and fine dining were lifelong passions for Karen. She and Pat, a lawyer and jazz musician, were frequent patrons of New England jazz festivals. An abiding love of cats led Karen to provide a home for many homeless cats over the years and support cat charities such as Connecticut Cat Connection and Nutmeg Spay/Neuter Clinic. Funeral services are private.