(New York, January 10, 2023)—The Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today the election of three new members: Julia Koch, Aerin Lauder, and Adrienne Arsht. The election took place at the January 10 meeting of the Board and was announced by Candace K. Beinecke and Hamilton (“Tony”) E. James, Co-Chairs of the Museum’s Board of Trustees. Ms. Koch and Ms. Lauder will serve as Elective Trustees; Ms. Arsht will be an Honorary Trustee.
“We are thrilled to welcome these three passionate individuals to our Board,” said Board of Trustees Co-Chairs Beinecke and James. “They will each bring distinct strengths and vision to their roles in the years to come, and we all look forward to collaborating on the important work of reaching audiences both locally and globally through The Met’s iconic collection and vital mission.”
Adrienne Arsht
Adrienne Arsht is a business leader and impact philanthropist. Ms. Arsht recently supported The Met’s Department of Live Arts to highlight themes of resilience through art, and her donation in 2020 enabled the Museum to create its first fully paid internship program. Ms. Arsht was a William Cullen Bryant Fellow (2012–13) and a past supporter of the American Wing Acquisitions Fund with a gift in 2012 toward the purchase of Albert Bierstadt’s painting Studies of Indian Chiefs Made at Fort Laramie, c. 1859. She also serves as a member of the Museum’s Chairman’s Council.
In honor of Ms. Arsht’s contribution to Miami’s Performing Arts Center in 2008, it was renamed the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. In 2012, her contribution to New York’s Lincoln Center was recognized with the dedication of the Adrienne Arsht Stage in Alice Tully Hall. In Washington, D.C., in 2016, she spearheaded the creation of the Adrienne Arsht Center for Resilience at the Atlantic Council, which in 2019 was renamed the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center. She also founded the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council in 2013.
Recently, Ms. Arsht contributed to the Smithsonian Institution to launch the Adrienne Arsht Community-Based Resilience Solutions Initiative. Ms. Arsht is a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a Trustee Emerita of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She is Executive Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Julia Koch
Julia Koch, a longtime supporter of The Met, was elected a Benefactor in 1997 and has served as a Chairman’s Council Member. Mrs. Koch is a board member of Koch Industries and President of the David H. Koch Foundation, which has contributed more than $200 million to support diverse causes nationwide, including science and medical research, education, and the arts.
Mrs. Koch oversees the legacy contributions of her late husband, David H. Koch, to organizations including NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), where she serves on the board. In addition to a 2016 grant establishing a new clinical research unit at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, Mrs. Koch has also given to NYU Langone, for the Julia Flesher Koch Professorship of Orthopedic Surgery and to establish the Julia Koch Endowed Scholarship.
Mrs. Koch previously served on the board of the School of American Ballet, where she annually chaired benefits. She has also led events for MSK, the Food Allergy Initiative (now Food Allergy Research & Education), and American Ballet Theatre.
Aerin Lauder
Aerin Lauder is a member of The Met’s Chairman’s Council and the Costume Institute Visiting Committee and has been a longtime supporter of the Costume Institute Benefit. AERIN was the lead sponsor of the 2014 Costume Institute exhibition Charles James: Beyond Fashion. She is the Chair and Creative Director of the global luxury lifestyle brand AERIN, which she founded in 2012. She was formerly a longtime executive and board member of the Estée Lauder Companies, where she served in various roles, including Senior Vice President and Creative Director, and helped to shape the brand’s image globally. Ms. Lauder is a board member of the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies and God’s Love We Deliver, and a member of the Women’s Board of The Boys’ Club of New York.
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