Emily Kernan
Rafferty
President, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
the 2007 ArtTable Award for
Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts honoree
In her position of President of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Ms. Rafferty supervises more than
2,500 museum employees, serves as an ex-officio member
of the Museum’s Board of Trustees, and has overall responsibility for
corporate, foundation, and individual fundraising. She also is responsible
for technology and information services, human resources, merchandising, communications,
government relations, legal affairs, finance, and facilities management. The
remodeling of the Grand Roman Court and Islamic galleries also came under her
purview.
Ms. Rafferty’s distinguished career at the Met began in 1976 as a fundraising
administrator. In 1981, she became the manager of development, and from 1984
to 1996, she served as the vice president for development and membership. Since
1999, she has been the Met’s senior vice president for external affairs,
with responsibility for the areas of development, visitor services, admissions,
and special events. She also led the efforts to create and manage the museum’s
Web site, as well as its multicultural audience and membership initiative.
Born and raised in New York City, Ms. Rafferty
earned her BA degree cum laude from
Boston University in 1971. She began her professional
career that same year as an arts and philanthropy
assistant to David Rockefeller, Jr., in Boston.
From 1973 to 1975, she served as the deputy director
of education at Boston’s
Institute of Contemporary Art.
She is affiliated
with a number of arts and inter-museum organizations,
including ArtTable, the Association of Fundraising
Professionals, Women in Financial Development,
the American Association of Museums, and Independent
Sector. She is a lifelong honorary trustee of
the Convent of the Sacred Heart, served on the
board of the Independent School Chairmen Association
and the Blue Ribbon Committee of the American
Cancer Society Foundation, and was president
of the Blue Hill Troupe, Gilbert and Sullivan
Repertory Theatre in 1998–1999.
Ms. Rafferty is the recipient of numerous awards
and honors, and is currently a member of the
Board of Directors of the World Trade Center
Memorial Foundation.
She is married to John Rafferty, a consulting
audit partner at Ernst & Young;
the couple lives in Manhattan with their two children. |
