Senior Vice Provost's Biography

Debbie M. Thorne, Ph.D. is the senior vice provost and a tenured professor of marketing. A primary advisor to the provost, she provides leadership on resource allocation, faculty recruitment, development, success, and retention, inclusive excellence, and the shared governance climate for 2,000 faculty members and tenured administrators. She joined Texas State in 2001 as the chair of the department of marketing and served as presidential fellow (2005-2006). 

In 2006, Dr. Thorne was named the associate vice president for academic affairs (AVPAA), with oversight for curriculum, distance learning, international affairs, commencement, and other initiatives.  As AVPAA, she chaired the university’s recertification with the NCAA, developed new academic programs at all levels, and initiated best practices and quality improvements in a number of areas. 

Before Texas State, she was an associate professor at Mississippi State University where she taught at the undergraduate and doctoral levels. She began her academic career at The University of Tampa and served as director of the university’s Center for Ethics. She led the center to a one million dollar endowment, educated over 4,000 business people, and strengthened the philanthropic commitment of the center’s advisory board.

Dr. Thorne received her Ph.D. from The University of Memphis, M.S. from Texas A & M University, and B.B.A from Abilene Christian University. She is the author of several books and many peer-reviewed articles in prestigious journals, including the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, and others. Dr. Thorne’s research has been cited more than 3,000 times and she is a recipient of multiple awards for research on business ethics and social responsibility.

She is the recipient of teaching awards from several universities as well as the Society for Marketing Advances and the Marketing Management Association. Dr. Thorne’s scholarship on teaching and learning appears in the Marketing Education Review, Journal of Teaching in International Business, and Teaching Business Ethics.

Dr. Thorne served as president of the Society for Marketing Advances and president of Texas Women in Higher Education. She was the inaugural holder of the Doris and Jay Christopher Board Seat in Ethics at the Direct Selling Education Foundation. Prior to academe, she was on the product management team at Texas Instruments that launched the microLaser line of desktop printers.