Martha Thorne (US) is dean of IE School of Architecture and Design, one of five schools at the  innovative, private IE University in Madrid and Segovia, Spain. Herr main interests center on design to help cities become more responsive and sustainable and how to expand the roles of architects and designers for the challenges of the 21st century.  She recently stepped down as executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, a position she held since 2005.

From 1996 to 2005, she worked as a curator at the Department of Architecture at The Art Institute of Chicago. In her curatorial role, she undertook research, exhibition production and collection development.She is the author or co-author of several books and has written numerous articles for specialized journals, newspapers, and encyclopedias. She was a member of the jury for the international prize, ArcVision-Women and Architecture Award and the board of the International Archive of Women in Architectureand many other international juries for commissions and awards..Thorne holds a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Affairs from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She undertook additional studies at the London School of Economics.