# Thane Kerner

> Thane Kerner is the co-founder and board chair of Silverchair, the scholarly publishing technology company he started with Elizabeth Willingham in Charlottesville in 1993. A former CEO of the business and a co-founder of Hum, he has worked across publishing strategy, digital platforms, audience intelligence, and art direction for Dave Matthews Band.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Chair of the Board at Silverchair
- **Organizations:** Silverchair, Hum, CHOR, Inc. (former board member), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (former Board of Visitors member), Association of American Publishers Professional and Scholarly Publishing division (historical Executive Council service)
- **Education:** BA, Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- **Known for:** Co-founded Silverchair and led it as CEO before becoming board chair in 2023., Co-founded Hum, an audience intelligence business serving publishers and associations., Has credited art-direction and design work for Dave Matthews Band.

## Career timeline

- **1993** — Co-founded Silverchair with Elizabeth Willingham in Charlottesville.
- **1996** — Credited for art direction, design, and illustrations on Dave Matthews Band’s Crash.
- **2001** — Shared art-direction and design credit with Catherine Dee on The Videos 1994-2001.
- **2012** — Silverchair Holdings exited Silverchair Learning Systems to Relias Learning.
- **2013-2020** — Served on the CHOR, Inc. board; LinkedIn lists February 2013 through May 2020.
- **2021** — Published an argument for audience intelligence and the creation of Hum.
- **2022** — Silverchair received a majority investment from Thompson Street Capital Partners while Kerner was CEO.
- **2023** — Appointed Silverchair board chair on September 22; Will Schweitzer succeeded him as CEO.
- **2025** — Featured on the September 22 episode of Midnight at the Casablanca.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Silverchair and led it as CEO before becoming board chair in 2023.
- Co-founded Hum, an audience intelligence business serving publishers and associations.
- Has credited art-direction and design work for Dave Matthews Band.
- Led Silverchair during partnerships with Duke University Press, AIP Publishing, and the American Accounting Association.

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — Appeared on Midnight at the Casablanca in an episode released September 22, discussing publishing technology across generations.
- **2023-09** — Became Chair of the Board at Silverchair as Will Schweitzer became CEO; the announcement said he would remain involved in vision, strategy, and innovation.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thane-kerner-64654

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/thane-kerner
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25