Barbara Judge, the first woman to chair the Institute of Directors, has passed away after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer.

City heavyweight Judge’s career was marked by a series of firsts. After starting her career at law firms Paul Weiss and later Kaye Scholer, she went on to become the youngest-ever Commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 1980. During her time at the SEC, she opened up the US markets to international investors.