Susan Berresford

Susan Vail Berresford (born 1943) is an American foundation executive. She was the president of the Ford Foundation from 1996-2007. Since November 2008 she has worked as a philanthropy consultant out of the offices of The New York Community Trust.

Berresford attended Vassar College and then studied American history at Radcliffe College, where she graduated cum laude in 1965. She currently leads several projects for the Ford Foundation. She joined the U.S. Fund for UNICEF's national Board in October 2008.

Berresford was elected president of the Ford Foundation, effective April 3, 1996. At the time of her election as president, Berresford was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Foundation. Berresford joined the Ford Foundation in 1970 as a project assistant in the Division of National Affairs. Between 1972 and 1980 she served as a program officer in that division. In 1980 she was named officer in charge of the Foundation's Women's programs. She became vice president for the Foundation’s U.S. and International Affairs programs in 1981, and subsequently served as vice president of the Program Division in charge of worldwide programming.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Berresford served as a program officer for the Neighborhood Youth Corps from 1965 until 1967. In 1967-68, she worked for the Manpower Career Development Agency. Berresford is a Board Member of the Council on Foundations and a member of the Trilateral Commission and has served on the Boards of the Chase Manhattan Corporation and the Hermine and Robert Popper Foundation. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1998.

Berresford is also a board member and chair of United States Artists, serves as an advisory board member of the Trinidad Trust Fund (California), and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a trustee of the California Endowment and The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. She is the convener of the U.S.–Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin.

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