Pioneering sex researcher Virginia Johnson has died at the age of 88 .

Johnson helped redefine the understanding of human sexuality as half of the “Masters and Johnson” husband-wife team.

Their controversial sex studies in the 1960s turned them into worldwide celebrities and best-selling authors.

The couple became known for a revolutionary sexual therapy that brought couples with sexual dysfunction, including celebrities, to St. Louis -for their two-week program.

That research was later discussed in their 1966 book, “Human Sexual Response”and  their 1970 book, “Human Sexual Inadequacy,” which explored a therapy they’d developed for men and women with sexual problems.

Both books were best-sellers translated into dozens of languages.

The couple married in 1971 and divorced 20 years later, when Masters left Johnson to pursue a sweetheart from his youth.

Johnson never remarried.