A graduate of the School of Foreign Service, Judith Donahue Lafranchi went on to get her MBA from Cornell University’s Graduate School of Management, then headed to Wall Street. She spent 30 years as one of the early women on a trading floor, beginning with 15 years at Lehman Brothers, Inc., followed by 15 years at Goldman Sachs & Co., Inc. She currently works as a consultant to Cohen and Company, the investment advisory firm.

Donahue credits Georgetown University with instilling the core Jesuit ethos of people for others. She served as president of the Board of The Catholic Big Sisters and Big Brothers of New York for more than 10 years. She also served three terms on Georgetown’s Board of Regents, where she was a member of the Executive Committee, chaired the Career Committee, and has served on the committees of Student Affairs, Mission & Ministry, Global Initiatives, and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. Donahue is an emerita member of the Regents and a Class Ambassador. She is one of the original supporters of the Georgetown Scholars Program, in which she remains active.

Her family has 32 Hoyas and counting. She and her husband, Bruce, live in New York City. Their son, Brian (B’09) and his wife, Rachelle (C’09), are parents to Charlotte Grace and John Liam.