Annette Thomas (born 1965) is an American-born publishing executive specializing in science publishing, who lives in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. In 2020, she was named chief executive of the

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and e ...

, but left the role in June 2021.

Early life

Thomas was born in Washington, D.C. in 1965, and grew up near Washington. Her African American father worked as a pharmacist at the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

; her mother is German. She attended the Eleanor Roosevelt High School,

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental and controversial New Dea ...

. She has a degree in biochemistry and biophysics from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

and a PhD in cell biology and neuroscience from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

Career

In 1993, immediately after finishing her graduate work, Thomas moved to London to begin her career in publishing as a cell biology editor at ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

''. She served as the founding editor of ''

Nature Cell Biology ''Nature Cell Biology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was established in 1999. The founding editor was Annette Thomas. The current editor-in-chief is Christina Kary. According to the '' Journal Cit ...

''. She became publisher (1999) and then managing director of the Nature Publishing Group in 2000. She was responsible for founding the ''Nature Reviews'' series. Other positions that she has held include chief executive of Macmillan Science and Education, as well as leadership roles at

Clarivate Analytics Clarivate Plc is a British-American publicly traded analytics company that operates a collection of subscription-based services, in the areas of bibliometrics and scientometrics; business / market intelligence, and competitive profiling for ...

' Web of Science citation and abstract search database. Thomas is a trustee and member of the governing board of

. She is also a past recipient of the prestigious Wilbur Cross Medal, awarded to distinguished Yale Graduate School alumni. She has previously served on the

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

Board of Directors. Thomas was appointed and named chief executive of the

on 14 January 2020. She began in the role in March 2020. Later that year, Thomas was recognised as one of the

's most influential Black People by being included in the 2021 edition of the annual '' Powerlist''. In 2021, Thomas said at a media industry conference "we have quality content in spades ... the job at hand is to now go further by strengthening the growing elements of our business". In May 2021 ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' reported that there was serious conflict between Thomas and editor

Katharine Viner Katharine Sophie Viner (born January 1971)Katharine Vine"Dear diary ..." ''The Guardian'', 27 November 2004 is a British journalist and playwright. She became the first female editor-in-chief at ''The Guardian'' on 1 June 2015 succeeding Alan ...

about finances and the direction the newspaper should take. The previous year ''The Guardian'' announced 180 job cuts. On 9 June 2021, it was announced that Thomas would leave the Guardian Media Group at the end of the month. Thomas has been appointed as a non-executive director of publisher

Pearson plc Pearson plc is a British multinational publishing and education company headquartered in London, England. It was founded as a construction business in the 1840s but switched to publishing in the 1920s. Spender, J. A., ''Weetman Pearson: F ...

, from 1 October 2021.

Personal life

Thomas has lived in the United Kingdom since about 1995, most recently in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. She is married to a scientist. They have three sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Annette 1965 births Living people Harvard University alumni Yale School of Medicine alumni Yale University administrators Academic journal editors British publishers (people) Guardian Media Group 21st-century publishers (people) People from Washington, D.C. American expatriates in the United Kingdom British editors British women editors American women editors American people of German descent 21st-century American women