Karen Ostrum George received her BA from Rice University in 1977 and a Master of Accounting from the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice in 1978.  She began her career at Ernst & Young and worked in private equity and venture capital investments with Ralph S. O’Connor for almost 40 years. She is a Rice University Trustee Emeritus and Past President of the Association of Rice Alumni, serving Rice in many capacities. She is currently on the Board of Advisors for the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, the Jones Graduate School of Business, and the Shepherd School of Music and serves on the Women’s Athletics Advisory Board. 

In the community, Karen is especially interested in organizations that empower women and their families. She is a Board Member and former Board Chair of The Women’s Home and is an Advisory Board member of the Women’s Resource of Greater Houston. She has served as Board Member and former Board Chair of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Board Member and former Board Chair of HSPVA Friends, and as a former Board Trustee of The Ensemble Theatre and Board Member of the Wiki Education Foundation. 

Karen is married to attorney Larry George, and they have two daughters, Meredith ’15, an attorney in the Washington D.C. area, and Camille, an attorney in Richmond, Virginia. The newest addition to their family is grandson Walker George Pompei.