Linda Basch

Linda Basch, Ph.D., President Emerita, led the National Council for Research on Women since 1996. Under her leadership, the Council grew into a thriving network of 120 research, policy, and advocacy centers with a growing Corporate Circle of major companies and a Presidents Circle of university and educational leaders. Her areas of expertise include globalization; economic security; the impact of public policy on women and families; higher education; gender and diversity in academia, society, and the workplace; women in the corporate world, including work/life balance; human security; women’s leadership; and women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math. An anthropologist by training, she has examined issues of migration, race, ethnicity, and gender, conducting field research in the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and North America.

Previously, Linda held positions as Director of Academic Programs at New York University, Dean of Arts and Sciences at Manhattan College, and Academic Vice President at Wagner College. She has also worked for the United Nations as a social policy specialist and a director of research.

She has written and co-authored numerous books and articles for scholarly journals and also overseen the Council’s many special reports. Her articles, letters and interviews have been featured in major media outlets including National Public Radio, NBC Today, CBS Evening News, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and Fox News.com. Linda serves on numerous boards and advisory bodies including Ms. Magazine and the Women’s Rights Prize of the Gruber Foundation.

Linda is an Elected Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences and a current member of the National Academy of Sciences previously serving as co-Chair of its Anthropology Section. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from New York University and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan.