Karen Green was born in Jackson MI, raised in Fort Lee NJ, and moved into Manhattan in 1978. After working for a bartender for many years, she received her bachelor's degree from NYU, then did graduate work at Columbia University, and got her library degree from Rutgers University.
Not long after Columbia University hired Green as the librarian for Ancient & Medieval History, she proposed that the libraries begin acquiring graphic novels. This collection quickly grew, and Green began writing a column for ComiXology.com, "Comic Adventures in Academia." She served as a judge for the Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards in 2011, sat on the board of trustees of New York's Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA), and later joined the board of directors of the Society of Illustrators.
