On Sept. 29, 2016, University of Southern California (USC) Trustee Marc Benioff ’86 and his wife, Lynne, gifted $20 million toward construction of the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC, a new center in Los Angeles that will combine interdisciplinary research with the holistic prevention and treatment of cancer. In recognition of the gift, the lobby of the Ellison Institute will be named in honor of Marc Benioff’s late father, Russell Benioff.

A pioneer of cloud computing and chairman and CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff has served as a member of the USC Board of Trustees since 2010. Widely recognized for his visionary leadership, Benioff is noted for integrating philanthropy into the core of his business with the creation of the 1-1-1 model of corporate philanthropy, donating 1 percent of Salesforce’s equity, employee time and product to nonprofits and educational institutions to improve communities around the world. Today, more than 1,000 companies around the world have adopted this model through Pledge 1%.

The Benioffs have focused their extensive personal philanthropy on children’s health, public education, homelessness and other social issues.