The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands offers its deepest sympathies at the passing of Ambassador William Luers, a noted diplomat and a longtime friend and colleague of Sunnylands’ late founders, Walter and Leonore Annenberg.

Mr. Luers, 95, died May 10, 2025, at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Wendy, and other family members at his side. He is known for his remarkable career in the U.S. Foreign Service, including stints as U.S. ambassador to Venezuela and Czechoslovakia, and later as president of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The friendship between the Annenbergs and the Luers was steeped in their shared interests in diplomacy and art. In 1981, as ambassador to Venezuela, William Luers accompanied the country’s president on a trip to Washington, D.C. On that occasion, he worked with Leonore Annenberg, who was then chief of protocol under President Ronald Reagan.

In 1986, Leonore Annenberg and Wendy Luers were among the cofounders of Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies, a public-private partnership that works with the State Department to permanently place American art in U.S. embassies around the world.

Over the years, William and Wendy Luers became frequent visitors to Sunnylands, enjoying gatherings with national political figures like the Reagans and celebrities such as Merv Griffin, Eva Gabor, and Dinah Shore. Records show they were guests at the estate more than a dozen times since 1988.

In 1991, after becoming president of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, William Luers persuaded Walter Annenberg to bequeath his world-class collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings to the museum. With works by renown artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Henri Matisse, the collection of more than 50 paintings was valued by multiple media outlets at about $1 billion. The masterpieces went to the museum after Walter’s death in 2002. The Met then made digital reproductions of the paintings, which still hang on the walls of Sunnylands today.

William Luers spoke to The Los Angeles Times at the time of the bequest. “My sense of it is that Walter Annenberg is very fond of his collection. He wants it to be well taken care of after he is gone, and he wants it to be seen by millions of people in a public institution that will display and promote its aesthetic quality,” he said.

In January 2025, William and Wendy Luers came to Sunnylands for a celebration of William’s newly published memoir, Uncommon Company: Dissidents and Diplomats, Enemies and Artists. At the event, hosted by Sunnylands President David Lane, guests enjoyed a salon-style conversation with the Luers. 

The trustees and staff at Sunnylands will remember William Luers with affection and respect. His cherished friendship with the Annenbergs and his role in preserving their collection of paintings at The Met are hallmarks of the Sunnylands legacy. Wendy Luers remains a member of Sunnylands’ Global Cooperation committee.