Honoring AEFI Advisor Marion Fremont-Smith

Marion Fremont-Smith (Oct 29, 1926 – December 30, 2021)

AEFI shares the sad news that our long-time advisor, Marion Fremont-Smith, died in December at her home in Cambridge, MA, age 95. We join her wide circle of friends and professional acquaintances in mourning her passing and celebrating her life.

Beginning in 2007, Marion generously lent her wise guidance and significant imprimatur as the nationally recognized expert on nonprofit governance to the Aspen Institute’s Artist-Endowed Foundation Initiative | AEFI. For AEFI’s National Study of Artist-Endowed Foundation, Marion authored the project’s seminal briefing paper, Federal and State Laws Regulating Conflict of Interest and Their Application to Artist-Endowed Foundations, which transformed the understanding of professional practice in this fast-growing new corner of the cultural philanthropy field. As tended to happen with Marion, she became a good friend to many in the AEF community, was greatly enjoyed as a speaker at AEFI’s convenings, and continued to intellectually challenge those engaged with her in this work as it unfolded over the years. AEFI and its achievements stand as one small part of Marion’s considerable professional and personal legacy.

Please see this remembrance for an accounting of her achievement- and service-filled life: https://histphil.org/2022/01/31/remembering-marion-fremont-smith/