Thorpe, vice president and director of education for WNET, oversees educational activities that enhance and extend the productions and broadcasts of WNET’s subsidiaries, THIRTEEN and WLIW21. At WNET and EBC, Thorpe has been responsible for work related to a Ready to Teach grant from the U.S. Department of Education; online resources for New York State schools; outreach initiatives connected to all of the station’s national productions; and the annual Celebration of Teaching and Learning, a two-day professional development conference serving more than 8,000 teachers and administrators each year.  Throughout his career, he has focused on professional development of teachers. A graduate of Harvard College, Thorpe earned his Ed.M. and Ed. D. in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is the author of numerous articles and commentaries on education, technology, and philanthropy, and is the editor of The First Year as Principal (Heinemann, 1995).