Time magazine has named Nancy Brinker, founder of the Dallas-based Susan G. Komen for the Cure, one of its 100 most influential people of 2008.

The magazine says the former Dallas resident earned the title for her work helping women around the world diagnosed with breast cancer.

Ms. Brinker, a breast cancer survivor, started the foundation in 1982 and organized the first Race for the Cure with 800 participants the next year.

Now, more than a million people around the world participate in the annual event, which has raised more than $1 billion for research and community health programs over the past 25 years.

Ms. Brinker, a former ambassador to Hungary who now serves as White House chief of protocol, has expanded the organization's programs internationally in recent years.

"Being included in Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2008 is a fitting honor for Ambassador Brinker's tireless career as a breast cancer advocate," Hala Moddelmog, Susan G. Komen for the Cure's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Ms. Brinker founded the organization to fulfill a promise to her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died from breast cancer at age 36.