August 29, 2014
Niki and I are eager to begin a new academic year at the university—our fifth as president and first lady of USC—and hope you had a wonderful summer. We are certainly pleased to be back, and to feel the energy of our new and returning students and faculty. We draw such pride from our Trojan Family, and from our collective strength, creativity, and kindness.
I am always humbled by the generous support of USC—at all levels, and this summer was no exception. The USC community celebrated the magnificent news that three trustees stepped forward with exceptionally generous gifts to the university. Thomas Barrack Jr. and his family gave $15 million to our Marshall School of Business, significantly advancing the school’s global mission and supporting the renovation of a key building, which will be renamed Barrack Hall. Just a few weeks later, the university received a $15 million gift from Andrew and Erna Viterbi—$10 million of which is directed to the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and $5 million of which is dedicated to the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. And most recently, USC announced a transformative $30 million gift from Kathleen McCarthy to name the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation Honors Hall at the USC Village. We will formally celebrate Mrs. McCarthy’s gift at the groundbreaking for the USC Village, and I will provide additional details regarding her gift in a forthcoming letter.
USC School of Cinematic Arts tops rankings
I was also pleased to learn that The Hollywood Reporter ranked our School of Cinematic Arts first in the nation, and in the accompanying article, asked its readers to think of “USC SCA as the uncatchable Moby Dick of film schools.” One educator described our school, saying, “It is the patriarch: passionate, perennial, always turning out the best films.” Over the summer, the school opened the Michelle and Kevin Douglas IMAX Theatre and Immersive Lab, which includes a screening room and research lab that live-streams events from all over the world.
USC innovation draws attention
NBC News covered the inaugural White House Maker Faire, which featured the unveiling of a 3-D printed bust of President Obama, along with a mold of his face. Smithsonian-based specialists created these items using USC technology—a Light Stage face scanner, which captured the president’s face in high resolution. This is another example of a USC innovation advancing an impressive, groundbreaking project.
In memoriam: distinguished Trojans
On a more somber note, this past summer we laid to rest a number of eminent Trojans, including University and Distinguished Professor Warren Bennis. Professor Bennis, who stood among the world’s leading experts on leadership, wrote numerous highly regarded books, including the classic On Becoming a Leader, and served as an advisor to five United States presidents. He joined our faculty in 1979, and received USC’s highest honor, the Presidential Medallion, in 2001.
In facing a difficult loss, the Trojan Family always comes together even stronger, as we saw with the passing of other beloved members of our community. In the news, you most likely learned of the tragic death in Afghanistan of Major General Harold J. Greene, a two-star United States Army general and the highest-ranking American military official killed in action since the Vietnam War. Major General Greene was a three-time USC alumnus, having earned a Ph.D. in materials science and two master’s degrees from our Viterbi School of Engineering.
We also mourned the loss of Xinran Ji, a graduate student at our Viterbi School of Engineering, whose life was tragically cut short. Our hearts went out to the family and friends of this young man, who had touched so many with his warmth, intellect, and creativity. Friends recalled Xinran as someone who was “always smiling, modest, positive, and hard working.” We have extended our deepest condolences to Xinran’s family and friends, and have pledged our continued support.
This past summer we also said good-bye to an American hero and proud Trojan, Louis Zamperini. Mr. Zamperini was an alumnus of USC Dornsife and an athlete at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, who later moved myriad people around the world with his singular story of survival: during World War II, when his plane crashed on a routine mission, he survived 47 days aboard a life raft in the Pacific Ocean and more than two years of captivity as a prisoner of war.
Dr. Michael Preston, a venerable member of USC’s faculty for nearly three decades, also passed away this summer. Professor Preston was a renowned expert on racial and ethnic politics, and inspired generations of scholars of urban politics. He mentored countless faculty and students, and served as my special adviser during my tenure as provost. These five distinguished Trojans will certainly be missed.
In closing, Niki and I are so grateful for your continued support as a USC Ambassador. For my part, I feel truly fortunate to have Niki by my side: she is such a passionate ambassador for our entire community. Our local paper, the San Marino Outlook, recently ran a piece that highlighted her dedication to USC, as well as the glorious history of the President’s House, which we are so fortunate to occupy. I hope you enjoy the story!
Yours truly,
C. L. Max Nikias
President