At a recent gala benefit for the Getty Center in Los Angeles, Agnes Gund accepted an award for her achievements in philanthropy and did something fairly unusual among people in her social set: She barely spoke about herself.

Instead, Ms. Gund used her six minutes at the lectern to praise the museum for its contributions to culture and toasted her fellow medal recipients — the curator Thelma Golden and the sculptor Richard Serra — whose work enriched her life.

Ms. Gund, 80, is patently uncomfortable accepting awards. She worries that she is going to sound foolish, or look vain.

In the 1970s, she started Studio in a School, a highly successful nonprofit that brought arts education to public schools all over New York City. In the ’90s, she served as the president of the Museum of Modern Art. Her tenure there is often considered to be the museum’s “golden era,” according to Bob Colacello, the Andy Warhol biographer, who sits on the boards of numerous arts organizations.