USC Trustee Steven Spielberg captured a proud moment on his phone at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Spielberg created the Michael Kahn Endowed Chair in Editing to honor his longtime editor, Michael Kahn, who won Oscars for editing celebrated cinematic works including Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The…Continue Reading USC Trustee Steven Spielberg creates Michael Kahn Chair in Editing
At an installation ceremony attended by USC President C. L. Max Nikias, Niki C. Nikias, Dean Yannis C. Yortsos of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and USC Trustee Daniel J. Epstein, the new holder of the Epstein Family Chair of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Jong-Shi Pang, was formally welcomed to the faculty. Pang, who…Continue Reading Epstein Family Chair welcomes new holder, Jong-Shi Pang
USC President C. L. Max Nikias and Mrs. Niki C. Nikias welcomed Trojans at a reception held in the San Francisco Bay area. USC has approximately 20,000 alumni in Northern California who, in addition to San Francisco, are concentrated in communities such as San Jose, Hillsborough, Los Altos, Saratoga, Sunnyvale, Lafayette, Oakland and Fremont. USC…Continue Reading Trojans welcomed in San Francisco
The USC School of Pharmacy launched its $100 million fundraising initiative during a gala event on Nov. 3 at the historic Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Supporters, faculty and USC leadership celebrated the school’s achievements even as they planned for a bolder future. The initiative is part of the larger Campaign for the University…Continue Reading Building the future of USC Pharmacy
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
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
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
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
As Chicago-based Trojans ramped up for the annual football game against Notre Dame, more than 150 came to a special event at the W Chicago Lakeshore and met with USC President C. L. Max Nikias and Mrs. Niki C. Nikias. In President Nikias’s own words, the purpose of these special events is for him “to…Continue Reading Chicago Trojans meet with President Nikias
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