Helen Gurley Brown

Together with her husband David, Helen Gurley established the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation. This institution will be housed at both the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Stanford's Engineering School. Their $30 million donation to the two schools will be used to develop journalism in the context of new technologies.

Brown died at the McKeen Pavilion at New York–Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia after a brief hospitalization; she was 90. In its statement announcing the news, Hearst Publications did not disclose a cause. The company said, "Helen was one of the world’s most recognized magazine editors and book authors, and a true pioneer for women in journalism—and beyond." Entertainment Weekly said that "Gurley Brown will be remembered for her impact on the publishing industry, her contributions to the culture at large, and sly quips like her famous line: 'Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere.'" New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a statement said, "Today New York City lost a pioneer who reshaped not only the entire media industry, but the nation's culture. She was a role model for the millions of women whose private thoughts, wonders and dreams she addressed so brilliantly in print." Read Less