Wallis Annenberg, USC’s longest-serving trustee, prominent Los Angeles philanthropist and namesake to Annenberg Hall died Monday morning due to complications related to lung cancer while at her L.A. home, the Los Angeles Times reported. She was 86.

Annenberg held various leadership roles — including president and chairwoman — at her family’s nonprofit organization, the Annenberg Foundation, which was founded by her father, Walter Annenberg. He was also a major donor to the University before his death in 2002, supporting the creation of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism with an $8 million donation in 1972.

“Wallis was our champion, particularly as a lifelong advocate for the essential role communication and journalism play in advancing our society and sustaining our democracy,” said Willow Bay, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. “Her legacy, here, carries on in every life her generosity touched.”

In 2010, the foundation gifted USC $50 million of the $59 million used to build Annenberg Hall, which houses the Annenberg Media Center. A $5 million donation from the foundation in April funded the creation of a multimedia production studio at USC’s Capital Campus.

“In today’s dynamic era, communication is at the center of everything. Wallis Annenberg Hall is a perfect example of that — a pulsing, networked, fully collaborative space,” former Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III said of the building in 2014. “It embodies our values and guides our actions and ambitions as we study, chronicle and invent the future of journalism, public relations and communication.”

The Annenberg Foundation has given $1.5 billion to thousands of organizations in L.A. since Wallis Annenberg took the helm in 2009, according to the L.A. Times. 

Through both her foundation and her own personal funds, Annenberg has contributed to a variety of projects throughout L.A.

She contributed more than $75 million to help create the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, often called the Wallis, in Beverly Hills, for which the foundation gave a $38.5 million low-interest loan to aid in its construction.

Multi-million dollar donations also helped create the Wallis Annenberg Building at the California Science Center, the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace and the in-progress Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a bridge that will allow animals to travel over the U.S. Highway 101 in Agoura Hills, which will be the world’s largest when completed. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in June that the project would be completed by the fall of 2026.

“Annenberg was a visionary who believed not just in a better world, but in a kinder one,” Newsom said in a statement Monday. “She was always determined to find new ways to help people achieve a better, more joyful quality of life, and above all else, to help people connect with each other. … California is better for all that she did.”

Wallis Annenberg is survived by four children: Roger Annenberg Weingarten, Charles Annenberg Weingarten, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Lauren Bon. Gregory and Charles Annenberg Weingarten as well as Bon serve on the Annenberg Foundation’s board of directors.

“To the public, she was a dynamic force in philanthropy, to us, she was a mother, grandmother, friend, mentor and a force of nature whose life and family remain committed to honoring public service. Her generosity and commitment will be lifting people up for many generations to come,” said her three children that are co-directors of the board, according to the L.A. Times.

Annenberg is also survived by five grandchildren and one great grandchild.

While Annenberg didn’t shy away from using her name and the connections that came with it, she said in a 2009 interview that she wanted to do good to become “worthy” of its usage.

“That’s who I am, and I’m happy to be that. I’m very proud of it,” Annenberg told Vanity Fair in 2009. “It opens a lot of doors, and I want to be the best person I can to walk through them.”