Karen Kent, Ph.D.

Dr. Kent joined the Division of Business at DeSales in 2019 as the Director of the MBA program and chair of the healthcare administration major. She has spent her career both as a healthcare executive and an academic leader. She’s held positions at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as the coordinator of Managed Care Arrangements and as the Administrator of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery-where she led the largest ENT Departments in the country. She has also served as an independent consultant, leading strategic planning and business development efforts for healthcare and business clients. Dr. Kent was an assistant professor at Xavier University and Penn State University before joining DeSales.

Dr. Kent is undergraduate alumnus of Penn State in Health Planning and Administration. She earned an M.S. in Health Systems Management from Rush University in Chicago and earned her Ph.D. in Social Gerontology from Miami University of Ohio. 

On the personal side, Dr. Kent moved to Pennsylvania in 2017 with her husband Bill and son Ian. Her daughter Lauren lives in New York City, where she works as a musical theater actor. Dr. Kent enjoys cooking, theater, traveling, and spending time at the beach in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Dr. Kent has many research interests, including the delivery of healthcare services to aging clients, especially those with disabilities. Her dissertation, “Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Healthcare Experiences of Older Adults,” focused on the experiences of adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities, and their challenges and successes in receiving quality healthcare services. She has presented on the topic at local, national and international meetings and has articles in publication on the subject.