The Los Angeles Times ran an obituary for Flora Thornton, namesake and benefactor of the USC Thornton School. Thornton’s $25 million gift to the school in 1999 was the largest donation to a United States music school at the time; Thornton also helped fund a new USC music building as well as the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Flora forever changed the artistic landscape of Los Angeles,” said Thornton School Dean Robert Cutietta. “As a philanthropist, she propelled Thornton School into the top echelons of music schools in the world.”