Helene L. Kaplan

Kaplan was born Helene Lois Finklestein.^[3] She graduated from Barnard College in 1953 and New York University School of Law in 1967.^[2] She was a student of sociologist Mirra Komarovsky at Barnard.^[1]

She was a partner of Webster & Sheffield before joining Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 1990.^[4] She retired from the practice of law in 2012.^[5]

She was named a director of the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1980 and held the title of chair from 1985 to 1990.^[6] She also was elected vice-chair twice, serving in that capacity from 1981 to 1984 and from 1998 until 2002. She was elected chairman in 2002 and served until her retirement on March 1, 2007.^[7] She is one of the only two honorary trustees of the foundation, alongside Newton N. Minow.^[8]

In addition to her non-profit and legal careers, she was a trustee of Barnard College and served as the chairman of its board of trustees.^[9][10] She was also a trustee and chairman of Mount Sinai School of Medicine.^[4] She was also a trustee of the New York Foundation from 1976 to 1986,^[11] a former director of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1994 to 1996,^[12] a former trustee of the American Museum of Natural History,^[13] the Mitre Corporation,^[14] and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation from 1981 to 1997.^[15] In 1990, she was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.^[5] She is a trustee emeriti of the Institute for Advanced Study,^[16] The Commonwealth Fund,^[17] and the J. Paul Getty Trust.^[18]

She has also served as a director of various companies, including ExxonMobil,^[19] MetLife,^[20] The May Department Stores Company,^[21] JPMorgan Chase and its predecessor Chemical Bank,^[22] and Verizon Communications.^[23]

From 1986 to 1990, she served as a member of the U.S. Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on South Africa.^[24][25]

Kaplan was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from Columbia University in 1990 and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 2001.^[2]

She was also one of the first women to be admitted to the Century Association in 1988, along with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Brooke Astor.^[26]

Kaplan was married to fellow Skadden lawyer Mark N. Kaplan and the couple had two children.^[1][14][27]