PHOTOS BY STEVE COHN
xx endocrinologist Jaime Guevara-Aguirre, above, worked on the study with USC’s Valter Longo (shown below at left)
the vanguard in the sciences and the social sciences, in the humanities and engineering and medicine and patient care, in professional practice and athletic and cultural excellence.” Nikias highlighted USC’s history of implementing ambitious and successful fundraising campaigns, beginning in the 1960s under President Norman H. Topping. At the time, national media wrote off the university’s chances and some predicted that 20 years would pass before USC reached its goal. Instead, the university raised close to $1 billion in today’s dollars in only five years. Subsequent campaigns culminated in President Steven B. Sample’s historic $3 billion drive, which cemented USC’s status as a leading national research university. The next step for USC, Nikias said, is to build its endowment. “It must rank in the top tier of private institutions, if we want our university to have the resources to
compete for the long term.” On Sept. 16, USC trustees, faculty, staff, students and friends gathered at Bovard Auditorium to celebrate the university’s academic achievements with student performances and faculty presentations, as well as remarks by Nikias, USC provost and senior vice president for academic affairs Elizabeth Garrett and USC senior vice president for University Advancement Al Checcio. Addressing a full house, Nikias announced that USC raised a record $1.2 billion in the past 12 months. He emphasized that this figure was made possible not just because of the kind of large gifts that make headlines, but also because of the support the university receives at all levels. “You have shown that every gift, no matter how small and humble, makes a bold statement about what we value,” Nikias said. Provost Garrett outlined how the campaign will build the university: by recruiting
“[USC founder] Judge Widney could not have imagined what USC is today – a rising global powerhouse in the cultivation of the human mind, body and spirit.” – President Nikias
and retaining more exceptional researchers, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows; by increasing financial aid and reducing student debt; by funding pressing academic priorities in all schools and units; and by funding capital projects, including new research offices and laboratories, buildings for patient care, and residential housing for graduate and international students. “What happens at USC has an impact that resonates far beyond Los Angeles and Southern California,” Garrett said. Checcio concluded by noting that the campaign is an initiative to accelerate the academic ascent of the university. “The campaign will touch each and every area of USC, and it will touch each and every one of us,” he said. “This is just the beginning.” ● To learn more about the campaign, go to campaign.usc.edu U S C T R O J A N F A M I L Y M A G A Z I N E tfm.usc.edu
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