Eleanor Tufts was born in 1927 in Exeter, New Hampshire. She obtained a bachelor's degree from Simmons College in 1949, a master's degree from Harvard University in 1957, and a doctorate from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University in 1971.

Dr. Tufts' interest in art and its history was sparked during her travels as a tour director conducting the summer foreign tours for Simmons University in Boston after her graduation.

Dr. Tufts' teaching career included periods at Boston University, the University of Bridgeport, Southern Connecticut State College, and finally, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Tufts joined the Meadows School at SMU in 1974. She served as head of the division of fine arts from 1974 to 1978. Through her leadership the art history department included a women's studies component that continues to be an important part of the curriculum. Dr. Tufts also served as president of the SMU Faculty Senate.

Among her regional, national, and international achievements, Tufts served as a trustee of the Dallas Museum of Art, chair of the Fulbright Commission's Art History Committee, and board member of the International Institute in Madrid. As director of development for the Council on International Educational Exchange from 1957-60, she organized the first U.S. - U.S.S.R. summer student exchanges.

Dr. Tufts was the curator of American Women Artists, 1830-1930, the exhibition that opened the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and toured the United States.

Dr. Tufts wrote five books and numerous articles and reviews. Her book, Our Hidden Heritage: Five Centuries of Women Artists (1974), was the first work in modern times on women artists. In it she documented the lives of 22 women artists from the 16th to the 20th century and examined how each of them became involved in art. She was also the author of American Women Artists: A Selected Bibliographic Guide and Luis Meléndez, Eighteenth-Century Master of the Spanish Still Life.

She was often sought out as a speaker for national and international conferences. In 1979 she presented papers on women artists to the International Congress of Art History in Bologna, Italy. That same year she spoke at the Arizona Women's Caucus for Art.

Dr. Tufts was honored extensively throughout her career. In 1980, she was the only art historian chosen by the State Department to attend the First International Festival of Women Artists in Copenhagen. She was named the 1991 recipient of the SMU Alumni Association Award for Faculty Excellence. She was listed in the World's Who's Who of Women. She received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Art History, Women's Caucus for Art, Annual National Conference; the Women Helping Women Award of the Dallas Women's Center; the Alumnae Achievement Award from Simmons College; the Pan-Hellenic and Interfraternity Council Achievement Award at SMU; and the M Award, the University's most prestigious award for outstanding service.

Eleanor Tufts died in December 1991 and left a scholastic legacy. The American Society for Hispanic Art Historical Studies awards an annual Eleanor Tufts Award for outstanding English language publication. Also, SMU has an Eleanor Tufts Distinguished Visiting Professorship.