Mary R. Seney Sheldon (July 3, 1863-June 16, 1913) was the first female president of the New York Philharmonic. She is credited with reorganizing the orchestra into a modern institution in 1909. One of her major contributions was the hiring of Gustav Mahler. Wikipedia
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Mary Seney Sheldon. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Seney_Sheldon