Dr. Radice has a BA in Art History from Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts (1969), and an MA from the Villa Schifanoia in Florence, Italy (1971). She began her career in arts administration in 1971 at the National Gallery of Art as Assistant Curator and Staff Lecturer. While there (until 1976) Radice wrote educational materials and initiated a foreign language lecture and tour service and was cited by the Wall Street Journal for introducing the National Gallery to a wider audience.

She did graduate coursework in northern Italian architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has a Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1976), an MBA from American University (1985). From 1976 to 1985, Dr. Radice worked in the Office of the Architect of the U.S. Capitol, first as Architectural Historian (1976 to 1981), then as Curator. She also supervised the Research, Archives, Records Management, and Architectural History Divisions.

As the first Director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (1983-1989), Dr. Radice participated in the renovation of the historic Washington landmark. Redesigned with the highest museum and security standards, the former Masonic Temple near the White House reopened as the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in 1987 and has won numerous architectural awards.

From 1993 to 1995, Dr. Radice consulted for New River Media, World Affairs Television Production in Montreal and Washington, DC, and Grey and Company II. Radice, an out lesbian, also vetoed grants to gay and lesbian film festivals in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and New York City, ostensibly on the grounds that any film shown at such a festival lacks artistic merit. As an unfailing rule, whenever a grant is rejected for political reasons, the rejection will be justified as based on "quality," either at the time of the rejection or sometime thereafter.

From 1998 to 2001, Dr. Radice was Executive Director of the Friends of Dresden, Inc., an organization devoted to the reconstruction, restoration, and preservation of Dresden's artistic and architectural legacy. Her fundraising responsibilities included the restoration of the Dresden Synagogue set ablaze during Kristallnacht in1938 and the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche (Our Lady of Sorrows Cathedral), which dominated the city's skyline from 1794 until 1945.

On December 13, 2005, the President of the United States nominated Anne-Imelda Radice, Ph.D. to be Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The United States Senate confirmed Dr. Radice's nomination on March 13, 2006. The Institute, an independent United States government agency, is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.