Adam Sheffer was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Vassar College with a degree in art history and archeology. He has served as director of three prominent American galleries, and for the last fifteen years has been a partner at Cheim & Read (New York), where he works closely with artists Ghada Amer, Jenny Holzer and Sean Scully, as well as with the Louise Bourgeois Trust and the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Adam has participated in related projects, such as the editing of a book Alice Neel: Paintings from the Thirties with Wayne Koestenbaum and has signed on as associate producer of Lady Painter, a film based on the novel by Patricia Albers about the art and life of Joan Mitchell. In 2014, Adam was named a benefactor of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and in 2015 he was elected president of the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA).