June 30, 2016
As construction continues apace on our campuses this summer, I would like to return to last month’s 133rd commencement exercises. Our charismatic speaker that morning, the venerable tech entrepreneur and humanitarian, Larry Ellison, inspired our students with his extraordinary personal journey, while describing the unique opportunities and challenges he faced in founding the Oracle Corporation four decades ago. His words resonated deeply with our students, and Business Insider followed up with a wonderful story.
Indeed, our students have much to learn from Mr. Ellison’s accomplishments: Oracle was formally launched with just three staff members, and now employs more than 135,000 people, and serves customers in 145 countries. Perhaps even more impressively, Mr. Ellison now stands among our nation’s leading philanthropists, and his recent gift of $200 million to USC will establish the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC. This new institute in West Los Angeles, led by Professor David B. Agus, will disrupt conventional approaches in our fight against cancer, and improve countless lives for generations to come. For this, Mr. Ellison has our enduring gratitude.
On commencement day, among the 17,000 newly minted graduates was a very special individual: Mr. Alfonso Gonzales. Mr. Gonzales first came to USC in 1947, five years after serving in the United States Marine Corps. He recently discovered that he was only one unit shy of his undergraduate zoology degree. Like a true Trojan, he was determined to finish what he began, and at age 96, he became the oldest graduate in USC history.
USC welcomes transfer students
The Washington Post recently published an excellent story on the leadership role USC has assumed in educating transfer students, praising the “rare open door” that the university offers these students. At USC, we see community college transfers as a creative pathway to attract qualified students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. “We feel very strongly that this is one of the things we ought to be doing: providing access to people to get a USC degree,” I told the reporter. “You give opportunity to kids from all walks of life.” The story noted that 15 percent of the diplomas at this year’s commencement went to transfer students.
USC Fisher Museum of Art
Selma Holo, director of the USC Fisher Museum of Art, recently travelled to Cuba for a tour of artists’ studios. During her visit, Professor Holo made several purchases of art, and hopes to curate upcoming exhibits at USC. “As isolated as Cuba has been, somehow or another, it’s in the world art conversation in a way that is very engaged,” she told a reporter from the Los Angeles Times.
Honors in Greece
Last month, Niki and I were delighted to take a special trip: we visited Greece, where I was humbled to be inducted into the Academy of Athens, and to receive honorary degrees from the University of Crete and the University of Piraeus. During our time there, I also met with the president of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, and presented him with a book commemorating USC’s glorious Olympic heritage. For me, it is a tremendous privilege to represent USC at other leading academic institutions around the world—and to have the opportunity to share our university’s successes with others. Niki and I had a lovely time!
Women’s water polo
Just before we left on our trip, we were thrilled to learn that the USC women’s water polo team won the NCAA championship. This victory marked the team’s fifth national title, as well as USC’s 102nd NCAA team title and the university’s 125th all-time national championship. Remarkably, head coach Jovan Vavic has collected his fourteenth national championship between the USC men and women teams. This most recent title came with an 8-7 victory over Stanford, securing USC’s second undefeated season in program history. To these exceptionally gifted student-athletes, we say: congratulations, and Fight On!
Niki and I hope your summer is off to a great start, and look forward to writing again in August.
Yours truly,
C. L. Max Nikias
President