Gautier was born and raised in New York. After participating in
Prep for Prep, she attended the
Nightingale Bamford School before graduating from
Northfield Mount Hermon. She then attended
Stanford, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in
English literature. She continued her education at the
University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. in English literature. She held a Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship at
Stanford University, a Fontaine Fellowship at
University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences, a Mitchem Dissertation Fellowship at
Marquette University, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the
Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. ==Career==