Futter was graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, from Barnard in 1971. She earned her J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1974. She was elected to the Board of Trustees of Barnard as a student representative in 1971 and was subsequently elected to full membership to complete the term of Arthur Goldberg, former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. She began her career as an associate at the Wall Street firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy where she practiced corporate law. In 1980, Ms. Futter took a leave of absence from Milbank, Tweed to serve as Barnard's Acting President for one year. At the end of that period, she was appointed President of the College and served in that capacity until 1993 when she joined the Museum.

Born in New York City on September 21, 1949, Ms. Futter attended high school in Port Washington, New York. Before transferring to Barnard College, she spent two years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ms. Futter is a director of a number of corporations and not-for-profit organizations. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Advisory Board of the Yale School of Management, the steering committee of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, on the Advisory Board of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, National Institute of Social Sciences and the Academy of American Poets, as well as of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York State and American Bar Associations.

She formerly served as Chairman of the Board of New York Federal Reserve Bank and Chairman of the Commission on Women's Health of The Commonwealth Fund. She has received numerous honorary degrees, including from Yale, and awards.

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