Helene Lois Kaplan (1933 – January 30, 2023) was an American lawyer and nonprofit executive. She was of counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and was the first person to serve as two-time Chairman of the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

Biography

Kaplan was born Helene Lois Finklestein. She graduated from Barnard College in 1953 and New York University School of Law in 1967. She was a student of sociologist Mirra Komarovsky at Barnard. She was a partner of Webster & Sheffield before joining Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 1990. She retired from the practice of law in 2012. She was named a director of the

in 1980 and held the title of chair from 1985 to 1990. 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. She is one of the only two honorary trustees of the foundation, alongside Newton N. Minow. 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. She was also a trustee and chairman of Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She was also a trustee of the New York Foundation from 1976 to 1986, a former director of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

from 1994 to 1996, a former trustee of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, the Mitre Corporation, and the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...

from 1981 to 1997. In 1990, she was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a trustee emeriti of the Institute for Advanced Study, The Commonwealth Fund, and the J. Paul Getty Trust. She has also served as a director of various companies, including

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

MetLife MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...

, The May Department Stores Company, JPMorgan Chase and its predecessor

Chemical Bank Chemical Bank was a bank with headquarters in New York City from 1824 until 1996. At the end of 1995, Chemical was the third-largest bank in the U.S., with about $182.9 billion in assets and more than 39,000 employees around the world. Beginning ...

, and Verizon Communications. From 1986 to 1990, she served as a member of the U.S. Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on South Africa. 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. She was also one of the first women to be admitted to the

Century Association The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinction ...

in 1988, along with

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A pop ...

and Brooke Astor.

Personal life and family

Kaplan was married to fellow Skadden lawyer

Mark N. Kaplan Mark N. Kaplan is an American lawyer and business executive who is the former CEO of Drexel Burnham Lambert and senior partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates. Education Kaplan graduated from Columbia College in 1951 ...

and the couple had two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Helene L. 1933 births 2023 deaths Barnard College alumni Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people American nonprofit chief executives American nonprofit businesspeople New York University School of Law alumni ExxonMobil people MetLife people JPMorgan Chase people Verizon people