This Journal-World file photo from 2006 shows Jane Malin, whose estate recently bequeathed 00,000 to the University of Kansas School of Music and department of dance. Malin’s gift to the KU dance department is the largest the department has ever received, according to a KU news release.

The estate of longtime Lawrence Community Theatre and University of Kansas alumna Jane Wofford Malin has given $400,000 to the KU School of Music and the KU dance department.

The bequest establishes Malin Opportunity Funds for Dance and Music, the university announced this week, with $200,000 going to each area for unrestricted use. Malin’s gift to the KU dance department is the largest the department has ever received, according to a KU news release.

Malin, who died in August 2016 at age 90, grew up in Lawrence before earning her bachelor’s degree in zoology from KU in 1945. She also earned a master’s degree in French from KU, as well as a doctorate in French literature from the University of Texas at Austin. Malin served as an associate professor of French at the University of Houston until her retirement in 1982.

After retiring from teaching, Malin returned to her hometown of Lawrence and moved into her childhood home, which her father had designed and built, according to KU’s news release. In Lawrence, Malin immersed herself in the local theatre scene, acting in 20 plays presented by the Lawrence Community Theatre until 2005, including a celebrated role in the two-woman play “Grace and Glorie” for which she won a regional best-actress award from the American Association of Community Theatre in 1999.

Malin was also an active volunteer at the Lawrence Community Theatre, where her involvement included serving on the board, working in the office, ushering and baking treats to serve at intermission. A 2006 winner of the city’s Phoenix Awards for excellence in local arts, Malin also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lawrence Community Theatre board in 2010.