November 30, 2017
Last week, Niki and I were delighted to continue our tradition of spending Thanksgiving day with USC students. We welcomed more than 350 students to our home for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. This meant that all USC students had a place to go—even if their families lived too far away for a mid-semester trip home. For many of our international students, our gathering was their first introduction to this very special American holiday. Niki and I truly enjoyed our time with these students, and we hope your family had a lovely Thanksgiving, as well!
USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience
We began November with the dedication of the new, cutting-edge home for the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience, a gorgeous structure that now stands as the single largest academic building on either of USC’s campuses. Michelson Hall—built with a visionary gift from retired spinal surgeon Gary Michelson and his wife, Alya—is designed with open, shared laboratories that encourage collaboration and new partnerships. The researchers based there pursue the most pressing medical breakthroughs of our time, and come from a vast range of academic disciplines: chemistry, biology, medicine, mathematics, engineering, physics, nanosciences, animation, and cinematography. In the coming years, the center will bring together even more scholars and artists from across USC’s campuses, providing a home in which our most talented minds can combine perspectives to tackle our most daunting health problems.
Coinciding with the opening of USC Michelson’s new home, Forbes published a wonderful article about a new course at the university, “The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Intellectual Property.” This course, which resulted directly from discussions I had with Dr. Michelson, informs students on the basic workings of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. This kind of training is critical for our nation’s future competitiveness in the world, and Dr. Michelson and I hope our initiative will encourage a broad range of other colleges and universities to follow suit.
Former president of Taiwan visits USC
As part of the USC President’s Distinguished Lecture series, the former president of Taiwan, Dr. Ma Ying-jeou, visited our University Park Campus earlier this month to deliver a highly engaging and informative talk for our community. Dr. Ma, who was hosted by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, drew hundreds of our students to Town and Gown, and these students had an opportunity to ask him questions afterwards. In recent years, as part of this same series, USC has hosted former American presidents, including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
USC Pacific Asia Museum reopens
Pasadena Now highlighted the reopening of the USC Pacific Asia Museum, and the retrofit of the 1924 building that has long stood as an architectural gem in Pasadena. The museum’s director, Christina Yu Yu, shared her thoughts on the scope of the preservation project: “It’s a comprehensive approach to the building,” she said, “and we look at every single floor and every single corner of the building to really have a balance in keeping its historical integrity, but we also want to bring in some 21st-century experiences into the building as well.” We are pleased to support the preservation of the building, which stands as a California Historical Landmark.
USC Marshall student recognized by People magazine
As our nation observed Veterans Day earlier this month, Staci Rouse, an Air Force Captain and a graduate student at the USC Marshall School of Business, was included among People magazine’s real-life “wonder women,” and appeared in its “25 Women Changing the World” issue. The story featured a photo of Air Force Captain Rouse with Gal Gadot, who portrays Wonder Woman on film, along with four other extraordinary women tapped for recognition. Air Force Captain Rouse is pursuing her master of business for veterans (MBV) at USC, and is an acquisitions officer at the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo. She is an extraordinary role model for her peers, and we’re so pleased that People magazine has highlighted her achievements.
Niki and I wish you a wonderful holiday season! We look forward to writing to you again before the new year.
Yours truly,
C. L. Max Nikias
President