Linda Rappaport

Linda Rappaport is an attorney, university board leader, and flutist whose professional life joins international legal practice with sustained service to music and education. Chair of The New School’s Board of Trustees and a member of its College of Performing Arts Board of Governors, she also serves on the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Rappaport spent more than 30 years as a partner at Shearman & Sterling, serving on the firm’s executive committee and leading its executive compensation and employee benefits practice. Her work involved advising businesses and boards in the United States, Europe, and Asia, with particular expertise in executive compensation and corporate governance.

Her nonprofit leadership has included board or advisory service with Mannes School of Music, the Legal Aid Society of New York, the New York Women’s Foundation, and Writing Through. She has also served as a trustee of Wesleyan University. These commitments connect her experience in institutional governance with the work of organizations devoted to education, cultural life, and public service.

An active flutist, Rappaport performs with orchestras in the New York City area. She earned her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Wesleyan University and her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law.