Karen T. Romer was born in 1936 in London, England. Her British family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where Romer discovered her love of music. She graduated from Buckingham School in 1954 and subsequently pursued her passion for the cello in France. Romer graduated from Radcliffe College in 1959 with an AB in English and graduated from Harvard University in 1968 with a PhD in English. She fulfilled teaching and administrative roles at both the University of Pennsylvania and Sarah Lawrence College before becoming Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Lecturer in English at Brown University in 1972. While at Brown, Romer helped establish the Sarah Doyle Center, the Venture Program, and the Odyssey Program (now known as the Undergraduate Teaching and Research Program) while also spearheading initiatives to eliminate sexual harassment on campus. She retired in 2001 at which point the Karen T. Romer Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards were named in her honor. An annual prize to faculty for outstanding academic advising was also established. Romer continues to play chamber music and support Community Music Works in Providence, Rhode Island. Romer has a daughter, a son, and four granddaughters.