Earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) recognized USC at its annual Eddy Awards, celebrating our longstanding contributions to the county’s growth. At the event, the LAEDC shared an inspired video that captures the breadth of these contributions, as well as the creative vibrancy of our community. I was privileged to accept this special award on behalf of the USC community, and during my remarks, emphasized USC’s shared history with Los Angeles. Our founders always affirmed that for Los Angeles to be a great city, it would need a great university at its heart, and over the past century-plus, we have truly grown side by side.
USC has trained the doctors, engineers, architects, social workers, cinematographers, public administrators, lawyers, and artists who built this city. In so many ways, we are a private university with a public mission. This bears out in the excellent healthcare services provided by our doctors: the same doctors who treat patients at Keck Medical Center of USC, treat patients at County Hospital. This also bears out in our Neighborhood Academic Initiative, which has graduated more than 700 economically disadvantaged students since its founding two decades ago, amply preparing them to succeed at the college level. These are just two examples, and the LAEDC’s award recognized USC’s leadership as the largest private employer in Los Angeles, a distinction we will cement with the groundbreaking of our new University Village.
One of the many areas in which USC has most notably contributed is disease prevention and research. The USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center stands as an excellent illustration of this, having recently marked its 40th anniversary with a gala celebration. Hosted by comedian Martin Short, the event raised nearly $2 million to advance cancer research and innovative treatments. Our community is so proud of USC Norris’ many accomplishments, and honored the Norris Foundation at the USC vs. Arizona football game last month. We brought the foundation’s leadership, USC Trustee Harlyne Norris and Lisa Hansen, on the field for a special tribute.
In the video I mention above, which played at the Eddy Awards, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti praised USC’s contributions to our city’s civic tapestry, pointing out that USC is “spinning out innovation every single day.” His tribute seemed particularly timely as we continue to celebrate USC’s newest Nobel laureate: Distinguished Professor Arieh Warshel, who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Harvard’s Martin Karplus and Stanford’s Michael Levitt. This award has brought international attention to Professor Warshel’s exceptionally groundbreaking work, championing his seminal role in creating numerical simulations of molecules. Some excerpts and photos from the extensive media coverage accompany this letter.
As if by poetic coincidence, when USC’s Distinguished Professor George Olah won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1994, Professor Warshel’s daughter, Yael, was a reporter for the Daily Trojan. It was she who photographed Professor Olah for the story. Nineteen years later, at the USC press conference for Professor Warshel, Professor Olah sat in the front row, warmly cheering his colleague. It was a touching moment for the Trojan Family, and the following week, Professor Olah would have even more reason to cheer.
As I wrote last month, the State of Israel awarded the Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation to Professor Olah and Professor G. K. Surya Prakash, both of our Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. The $1 million prize recognizes their pioneering research in advancing methanol markets, and their stellar work in developing viable alternatives to fossil fuels. I am sharing the Los Angeles Times coverage of this announcement, as it was a landmark moment for Professors Olah and Prakash, and the vital work of the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute.
Finally, each year the USC community comes together for Trojan Family Weekend, at which we welcome our students’ parents and families to our campuses. The USC Song Girls and Trojan Marching Band entertained this year’s guests during a picnic lunch, and I addressed our 3,000-plus guests, who attended guided tours and panel discussions, as well as pep rallies and acting classes. During the festivities, USC’s Trojan Debate Squad competed against a team from Wiley College, holding a rematch of their historically memorable 1935 debate, which inspired the 2007 film, The Great Debaters. Also, the Beach Boys performed for a sold-out crowd in Bovard Auditorium, and its group members spoke to students at our Thornton School of Music earlier in the day. The enclosed photos capture the weekend’s exciting range of activities.
Thank you for your continued service as a USC Ambassador. Niki and I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.