2022 Famous Alumni, Dr. Karen White
Weare, NH
Dr. Karen White
2022 Famous Alumni
A full-time working adult and volunteer, I needed the schedule flexibility provided by distance learning
Dr. Karen White is Program Director and Senior Lecturer in Project Management at College of Professional Studies, UNH in New Hampshire. She received a DBA at the University of Management and Technology. Her doctoral work was funded by a UMT scholarship issued through the Project Management Institute Education Foundation.
Karen’s achievements are substantial, ranging from a consultant in healthcare and project management, to a project management practitioner, to a college professor, to an author, to a cancer survivor, to an Army Reservist. She was awarded a BS in Information Systems (Northeastern University), an MS in Information Systems Management (Northeastern University School of Engineering), and a Doctor of Business Administration in Management (UMT).
Karen is particularly proud of her thought leadership contributions in two areas. First, as one of a handful of management practitioners who, years ago, recognized the value of implementing project management principles and practices in the healthcare arena. Second, as one of the first management experts to promote the use of agile practices employed in IT to manage all management efforts. She authored two books on the application of agile practices in project management (Agile Project Management: A Mandate for the 21st Century (2009); and Practical Project Management for the Agile Non-Profit (2013)).
Even as Karen earned a living as a consultant and educator, she dedicated a substantial portion of her time to volunteer service. Of particular note was her service to the Project Management Institute (PMI), which began in 1994 and continues today. As a PMI volunteer, she assumed several leadership roles that ultimately led her to be granted the award of PMI Fellow (2009) – one of only 40 people in a professional society of 600,000 people to be given this privilege. Karen is also proud of her volunteer service to various cancer-fighting causes over a twenty-year span.
"I am glad I was able to complete this degree studying with Dr. David Frame and Dr. Yanping Chen. Their respect for my existing knowledge, and how they shared their knowledge with me, made for a collegiate learning experience."
