Jane Goodall, renowned chimpanzee researcher and USC professor emeritus, died Wednesday morning, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute. She was 91 years old. 

Goodall, a United Nations Messenger of Peace, was best known for her contributions to chimpanzee research regarding their cognitive function and development. The Jane Goodall Institute reflected on how her discovery that chimpanzees use tools revolutionized the public’s understanding of the human condition in a statement posted to her website.

“Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” the statement read. She had been scheduled to speak in Pasadena, a stop on her speaking tour of the United States.

Goodall established USC’s Jane Goodall Research Center in 1991 along with her appointment as distinguished emeritus professor of anthropology and occupational science. The addition of this department to the University broadened research opportunities into animal behavior, providing students with access to Goodall’s visual anthropology of her animal research in Tanzania. The center is no longer active. 

At the time of her appointment, the Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy had existed for about 50 years. Her contributions to the school opened the door for an opportunity for students to study abroad in Gombe National Park in Tanzania to study chimpanzees in the same setting where Goodall conducted the majority of her research.

After her appointment, Goodall gave a lecture every three years to update the campus on her work and research. A 2009 Daily Trojan article described crowds of students “pushing to get a good seat” in Bovard Auditorium to hear her speak.

“Humans are not as different as we used to think from the rest of the animal kingdom,” Goodall said to USC students in her 2009 lecture. “The only difference is that we have a sophisticated language. … Therefore, how come the most intellectual species that has ever walked the planet is destroying it? Is there a disconnect between the clever head and the human heart?”

In a 1990 Los Angeles Times article, Goodall indicated one of the primary reasons she joined USC was to archive her research materials. USC’s visual anthropology department was tasked with archiving 30 years of Goodall’s research and turning it into accessible videodiscs to be used by other researchers.

Her educational endeavors were not limited to USC. Duke University was also home to the Jane Goodall Institute Research Center, which housed complete life histories of chimpanzees, containing written descriptions by Goodall herself as she was performing her research.

Additionally, Arizona State University holds Goodall’s Gombe Chimpanzee Archive, including both tangible items and digital materials. Her dedication to higher education and promoting wildlife conservation has given research institutions the ability to pass this knowledge onto students.