Jeanette Sarkisian Wagner, a force in beauty and in business, died on February 26. She was 92. The cause of death was unknown.

Jeanette, who was vice chairman emerita of the Estée Lauder Cos., was a force in the beauty industry, rising from management and editorial roles at various media companies, including The Hearst Corporation. She joined Lauder in 1975 and was one of the pioneers of expanding the company’s international business. At Lauder, Jeanette was named the first vice chair of the company. Following her beauty career, according to The Sag Harbor Express, Jeanette served three terms of a presidential appointment to the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, and was the U.S. Chair of Group III (WTO Negotiations) of the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue from 2000 to 2001. Among her other accomplishments was serving as secretary of the Board of the Fund for Public Schools under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Jeanette lived in both Sag Harbor and New York City.

CEW President Carlotta Jacobson looked to Jeanette as friend and mentor. Here, a personal note from Carlotta on her colleague’s recent passing.

“I was so sad when I heard that Jeanette had passed away. She was someone you would think would live forever. She was so strong and dynamic, it’s hard to believe she is gone. Personally, I was quite intimidated of Jeanette when I first met her; she was a legend and one of the top female executives. I think she was the only woman in the industry who had gone from being an editor to a top executive at Estée Lauder. That was very impressive. Once I got to know her, I realized that she was a formidable champion of women. She was tough on people, but she really wanted women to succeed in the industry and she knew how hard it was. I spent many hours with Jeanette over the years learning a tremendous amount in business. I still remember when I called her in 1999 to tell her that she had been voted on by CEW’s board to receive the CEW Lifetime Achievement Award. She was only the second woman to receive it, the first being Estée Lauder. She cried when I told her, I’ll never forget that. She so deserved the honor, but she never imagined she would be recognized by the industry. It wasn’t really that important to her, what was important was her work and contributions to the industry. Although I haven’t seen her in many years, I will miss her. And so will the industry.”