USA: Karen Irwin Is New President of Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal Studios Hollywood started with Karen Irwin as new President and Chief Operating Officer into the new year. Karen, who had been overseeing merchandising and partnership deals at the mother company Universal Parks & Resorts in Orlando since 2006, succeeds former park President Larry Kurzweil, who withdrew from his position after 17 years. Meanwhile, Kurzweil joined a private equity firm specializing in the food industry.

“Karen is creative, strategic, focused and a true leader and been at the forefront of our incredible growth in merchandise over the past ten years. She has a wealth of operational and senior management experience in all facets of our business and was instrumental in all of the development of our incredible Harry Potter offerings. Karen is uniquely qualified for this important role and we look forward to welcoming her to this new chapter in her career,” said Thomas Williams, Chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts. Irwin has been part of the Universal team since 1990 and held the positions of Director of Operations and Vice President of Revenue Operations, amongst others. (eap)