Month: October 2013

Celebrating Nobel Laureate, Arieh Warshel

  • Publication date October 31, 2013
C. L. Max Nikias and Arieh Warshel

The USC community awakened to the exciting news that Distinguished Professor Arieh Warshel of our Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This was an extraordinary day for Professor Warshel and his family—and for USC. He shares this stellar distinction with two colleagues at other institutions, Harvard’s Martin Karplus and Stanford’s Michael Levitt, with whom he collaborated earlier in his career….Continue Reading Celebrating Nobel Laureate, Arieh Warshel

Phi Kappa Psi Scholarship Awards Dinner

  • Publication date October 28, 2013

If you are just beginning your USC career, you should know that we at USC take the legends of the Trojans seriously. Growing up reading the Greco-Roman classics, I was inspired by the image of the Trojans as warriors who never gave up. Persistence and courage were engraved in their ethos.

When they were knocked to the ground, they always rose back up. They persevered. And they conquered, even when the odds were against them, even when they were outnumbered. Yes, even when the gods of Mount Olympus seemed to have forgotten them, they knew how to bend destiny back in their favor and to triumph. Destiny always favors the bold. Destiny always bends in the direction of those who take risks….Continue Reading Phi Kappa Psi Scholarship Awards Dinner

Parents take the lead in new philanthropic circle

  • Publication date October 27, 2013

This year, the Trojan Family Weekend was the occasion for the inauguration of a new giving society — The USC Parent Leadership Circle, a philanthropic group comprised of parents of undergraduates who express a strong interest in the university’s long-term stability and growth. The USC Parent Leadership Circle, with 200 parents committed to its goals,…Continue Reading Parents take the lead in new philanthropic circle

2013 Trojan Family Weekend Address

  • Publication date October 25, 2013

Delivered on October 25, 2013, to parents and family of USC students

Having served as a professor, dean, provost, and now as president of USC, I have been guided first and foremost by my perspective as a parent. In the past, it was quite helpful to see and experience USC through the eyes and hearts of my daughters and their friends. From time to time, I would have lunch with them on campus in pursuit of what was on the minds of students here.

Today, I still have an opportunity to share a meal with your children. Every year since I became president, my wife Niki and I host Thanksgiving for over 300 students at our house. I only wish the President’s House could host 3,000 students for a traditional turkey dinner! These are both domestic and international students who don’t go home for Thanksgiving. Niki and I, along with our daughters, spend the evening with them, and we love it….Continue Reading 2013 Trojan Family Weekend Address

C. L. Max Nikias inducted into 233rd Class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

  • Publication date October 18, 2013

C. L. Max Nikias was among one hundred-sixty four influential artists, scientists, scholars, authors, and institutional leaders who were inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at a ceremony in Cambridge on Saturday, October 12. Academy Award-winning actor Sally Field, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, novelist Martin Amis and jazz great Herbie Hancock were among the inductees.  Field and Burns…Continue Reading C. L. Max Nikias inducted into 233rd Class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

“Online Education Revolution—Hype and Reality”

  • Publication date October 15, 2013

Delivered to the World Affairs Council, Los Angeles, October 15, 2013.

Quietly and without fanfare, USC’s faculty have developed an online model that expands educational access to more than 40 nations around the world already— while maintaining the all-important standards of academic rigor, integrity, and quality.

USC’s online education model focuses entirely on professional master’s degree programs, along with executive and continuing education. Our goal is to provide an online education that is just as powerful as the classroom one….Continue Reading “Online Education Revolution—Hype and Reality”

Cancer Fighters Saluted

  • Publication date October 11, 2013

At the USC v. Arizona football game on October 10, 2013, representatives of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center received an on-field tribute from thousands of Trojans in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Harlyne Norris (center left)—whose husband Ken Norris was the founding visionary who established the center forty years ago—received the cheers alongside her daughter,…Continue Reading Cancer Fighters Saluted

USC holds press conference for 2013 Nobel Prize recipient, Professor Arieh Warshel

  • Publication date October 9, 2013

At an event attended by colleagues, university leadership, and media, 2013 Nobel Prize recipient Arieh Warshel was lauded for his accomplishments in “the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.” Professor Warshel is a longstanding member of the Department of Chemistry in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “We are particularly…Continue Reading USC holds press conference for 2013 Nobel Prize recipient, Professor Arieh Warshel

Petraeus leads a surge across campus

  • Publication date October 9, 2013

Retired Gen. David Petraeus officially became “Professor Petraeus” to USC students during the week of October 7 — lecturing on energy and the U.S. economy, meeting with student veterans and cheering the football team to a win in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Petraeus, whose current interests include how energy, information technology, life sciences and…Continue Reading Petraeus leads a surge across campus