She earned her master's degree in French from the University of Wisconsin and then returned to UCLA, where she taught from 1949 to 1956.
She was known for living in a modest two-bedroom house, driving an aging Toyota Corolla, and paying little attention to her appearance (at least her jewelry, hair, and nails), all despite her estimated $40 million settlement in her 1968 divorce from Max Palevsky.
She served as a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from 1973 to 1979 and as vice president of the board from 1978 to 1979.
After her March 2006 death, in her will her estate gave over $200 million to the California Community Foundation in 2006, one of the largest bequests ever given to a U.S. public charity.
She also left $1.1 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for its ancient-art division, its department of prints and drawing, an intern program she had previously established, the museum's library, endowment, and its Islamic-art division (to which she had given 650 objects from her own collection in 1973).