Ida Schmertz, founder of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey, passed away on July 2. She was 91 years old.
Born in Amsterdam, Schmertz and her family came to the United States at the start of World War II in 1940. She was raised in Pennsylvania and went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College, a liberal arts educational institution for women in Massachusetts. Later, Schmertz earned her master’s degree from Columbia University and completed doctoral coursework in international relations and Soviet studies.
In 1971, Schmertz co-founded and co-directed the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. After leaving the university, Schmertz held senior leadership positions in New York state government and at American Express, where she was the corporation’s first woman to serve as as senior vice president. In 1994, she was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the board of the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund, and later served as founding board chair of the Romanian American Foundation.