Dr. Scher earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1956, a Master's degree from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University in 1961, and a Ph.D. in Art History from Yale in 1966. He taught at Brown University in the Art Department from 1961 to 1974, becoming department chair in 1972.

In 1969, he curated the exhibition The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. In 1997, he organized a second exhibition at the Frick: The Proud Republic: Dutch Medals of the Golden Age. Additionally, he has participated in exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, both as a lender and contributor to catalogs, including (2004) Byzantium: Faith and Power; (2006) Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture; (2010) The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry; (2011) The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini.