Ida Schmertz, a pioneering feminist leader and corporate executive known for her foundational role in advancing the study of women in American politics and her efforts to promote female leadership in both the political and corporate spheres, died on July 2 in Manhattan. She was 91. Her death was attributed to kidney failure, according to her daughter, Lexy Schmertz.

A co-founder in 1971 of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics, Schmertz played a critical role in establishing the center as a leading institution dedicated to the research and education regarding women’s political participation. At a time when the academic study of women in politics was virtually nonexistent, Schmertz and her fellow founding director, Ruth Mandel, sought to document and support the growing presence of women in political office during the rise of second-wave feminism.

In 1972, Schmertz and Mandel organized the first national conference for female state legislators, an event that marked a convergence of electoral politics and the women’s movement. The conference led to a seminal publication, “Political Woman” (1974), by political scientist Jeane Kirkpatrick, which helped legitimize the field within political science.

After departing the center in 1975, Schmertz served as an adviser on women’s issues to New York Governor Hugh Carey and contributed to efforts that resulted in the hiring of the city’s first female dockworkers in 1979. The same year, she joined American Express amid New York City’s financial crisis, eventually becoming one of the company’s first female senior vice presidents by 1984. She remained in that role for nearly a decade and was widely recognized for mentoring and supporting women leaders in business and politics.

Born Ida Frederika Schaap on February 24, 1935, in Amsterdam to Jewish parents, Schmertz’s family fled Europe at the onset of World War II, relocating first to the Dutch East Indies and later to the United States. She completed her undergraduate studies in political science at Wellesley College in 1956, followed by a master’s degree in international relations and Russian studies at Columbia University in 1960. Early in her career, Schmertz worked briefly for the CIA and was a Russian-speaking guide at the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow, a venue noted for the historic “kitchen debate” between U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

Throughout her life, Schmertz maintained a focus on international affairs, returning to Russia after the Soviet Union’s collapse to support female entrepreneurship through micro-leasing initiatives. In 1994, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton as founding chair of the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund, aiding Romania’s transition to a market economy. She held this position until her retirement in 2018.

Schmertz was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the mid-1990s and became an advocate for medical aid in dying legislation in New York. She publicly supported the state’s Medical Aid in Dying Act, which was signed into law in February 2024 and is set to take effect in August.

She is survived by her two children, Anthony and Lexy, four grandsons, and two sisters, Martina Yamin and Aletta Schaap. Her former husband was Herbert Schmertz, a public relations executive. Colleagues and friends remember her as a quietly influential leader who shaped opportunities for women both in politics and corporate America.