March 12, 1:33 p.m.
Leonore Annenberg, emeritus trustee and founding member of the Annenberg School for Communication, died Thursday morning at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at the age of 91.
Annenberg was elected to the University's Board of Trustees in 1982, and was elected a life trustee in 1987. She received an honorary degree from Penn in 1985 and the University of Pennsylvania Medal for Distinguished Achievement in 1994.
Annenberg and her late husband, 1931 Wharton alumnus and 1966 honorary degree recipient Walter Annenberg, founded the Annenberg School for Communication in 1958.
In 1993, they created a permanent endowment for the Annenberg School and created the Annenberg Public Policy Center. They have since provided additional funding to the University, including 24 professorships - primarily in the School of Arts and Sciences, but also in the Annenberg School, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Medicine and the Law School.
"The impact of their generosity is beyond measure," University President Amy Gutmann and chairman of the Board of Trustees James Riepe said in a statement.
Leonore Annenberg was also active in the arts, including as a trustee emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a member of the board of trustees of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a former trustee of the National Gallery of Art and managing director of the Metropolitan Opera.
She won numerous awards throughout her lifetime, including the National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1992, the United Nations Association Global Leadership Award in 2005 and the Philadelphia Award in 2006.
She is survived by her sister, two daughters, one stepdaughter, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Annenberg's family will hold a private funeral service, and ask that in lieu of sending flowers, individuals make a donation to their favorite charity.
