Ellen V. Futter

Ellen Victoria Futter was born on September 21, 1949. She served as the president of the American Museum of Natural History from 1993 to 2023, leading one of the world’s most famous museums during her time there.

Before that, Futter spent 13 years as the president of Barnard College, a college for women in New York City. Her work helped shape education and science for many people during her long career.

Biography

Ellen Futter was born in New York City and grew up in Port Washington, New York. Her father, Victor Futter, was a lawyer who worked for Allied Corporation and taught at the Hofstra University Law School and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

She studied at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before moving to Barnard College, where she graduated with high honors in 1971. She later earned a law degree from Columbia Law School in 1974.

Futter started her career at a big law firm in Wall Street. In 1980, she became the acting president of Barnard College and was then appointed as its president, becoming the youngest college president in the United States at that time. She led Barnard until 1993, when she joined the American Museum of Natural History.

In 2014, she received the Rachel Carson Award for her work in protecting the environment. In 2022, she announced she would leave her position as president of the museum in 2023. She has also been involved with many important groups and organizations.

JPMorgan directorship

In 2012, Ellen Futter faced some criticism for being part of JPMorgan Chase's Risk committee. This happened after the bank's leader, Jamie Dimon, announced a big loss in trading. Futter also worked with a company called Bristol-Myers during a problem with their accounting, and she was on a committee for AIG before the company needed help from the U.S. government.

Jamie Dimon