Trojan Family Magazine Autumn 2012

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uscTrojan Autumn 2012

F A M I L Y

USC Trustee John Mork is

A MAN OF ENERGY

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Andrew McMahon moves USC to the vanguard of regenerative medicine ● Scientists shed light on the shadowy world of counterterrorism ● William Krisel brings Modernism to the masses ● USC makes headlines in polling with help from the Los Angeles Times

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Contribute to the legacy.

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inside [ FEATURES ]

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Security Scientists

Poll Vaulting

Midcentury Modernist

Man of Energy

USC’s homeland security center fights terrorism with game theory, algorithms and social science.

The USC Dornsife/ Los Angeles Times Poll makes headlines in opinion research.

Midcentury homes designed

by William Krisel ’49 are enjoying a renaissance, as is their architect.

USC Trustee and benefactor John Mork ’70, MS ’12 is helping lead a revolution in clean energy.

By Merrill Balassone

By Matthew Kredell

12 Campus Catalysts: McMahon Power

By Allison Engel

By Lauren Clark

By Diane Krieger

Stem cell scientist Andrew McMahon moves USC to the vanguard of regenerative medicine.

02 Editor’s Note

09 Support Report

Echoing the accomplishments and fighting spirit of USC Olympians

Contributions to campus facilities, faculty research and student scholarships

03 President’s Page

32 Keck Medical Center of USC

Establishing USC as a place that defines excellence in all disciplines

Improving outcomes for stroke patients by getting them to the hospital more quickly

05 Mailbag

37 Family Ties

06 Trojan Beat A big boost for Dharma, 25 medals won at the London 2012 Olympics and more

News from the USC Alumni Association

42 Class Notes

On the cover: USC Trustee John Mork ’70, MS ’12 Photo courtesy of Mork Family Archives 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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editor's note

The quarterly magazine of the University of Southern California

The Trojan Spirit

EDITOR

Lauren Clark SENIOR EDITOR

Diane Krieger MANAGING EDITOR

Mary Modina ART DIRECTOR

Sheharazad P. Fleming DESIGN AND PRODUCTION

Russell Ono Dongyi Wu CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

LAURENCLARK

DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS

USC UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

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FOR MORE ON THE 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS GO TO usctrojans.com/london2012

U S C T R O J A N F A M I L Y M A G A Z I N E autumn

2012

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Mary Modina | modina@usc.edu CIRCULATION MANAGER

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PHOTO BY KIRBY LEE

USC BEGINS THE ACADEMIC YEAR WITH an extra dose of inspiration thanks to the most successful Olympic performance ever by Trojan athletes.

Forty-one current and former USC students from 18 countries competed in the 2012 London Olympics. Th ey took home 25 medals — a record for an American university — including an unprecedented 12 gold medals. Two USC athletes — Allyson Felix ’08 in track and Rebecca Soni ’09 in swimming — each captured three medals. Trojan Bryshon Nellum, above left, won silver in the 4-x-400 relay four years after doctors who treated him for gunshot wounds to the legs doubted he would run again.

In this issue, several Trojans echo the accomplishments and ÿ ghting spirit of USC Olympians. For example, Wilfred “Fred” Uytengsu ’83, whose evolution from walk-on swimmer to team captain during his years on the USC swim team inspired him to bestow the largest-ever gift to USC Athletics by a former student-athlete. We also proÿ le, among others, William Krisel ’49, an architect who made midcentury Modern design aff ordable and is still active at age 88; and John Mork ’70, MS ’12, who built one of the nation’s largest energy companies from the ground up and has given back to his alma mater in a big way.

Th ese people drew inspiration from their time at USC, and, likewise, they are an inspiration to their fellow Trojans.

Merrill Balassone Mary Castillo Allison Engel Timothy O. Knight Matthew Kredell Ross M. Levine Martin Mazloom Annette Moore Alana Klein Prisco Lauren Walser Susan L. Wampler

president's page

BY C. L. MAX NIKIAS

The name John Mork is already familiar to most

PHOTO BY STEVE COHN

of you. He and his wife, Julie, established the USC Mork Family Scholars Program, and stand among our nation’s most acclaimed philanthropists.

Th eir place in our university’s history is singular and assured, but the proÿ le of Mr. Mork in this issue gives you a sense of the inspiring person behind the well-known name — the individual who, along with his wife, built one of the most successful energy companies in the world. I hope you enjoy it.

From there, and as we begin a fresh academic year, I also want to turn your attention to USC’s exceptional faculty. As president, I see the vast scope of their accomplishments every day — not only their impressive awards and important breakthroughs, but also their more quiet, continued contributions, the steady ways they advance scholarly and creative work in our world.

I see the many ways they stand as leaders in their ÿ elds, as collaborators for their colleagues and as mentors to our students.

Th eir contributions have cemented a solid foundation at USC, and to build on this, we have focused on a number of strategic fififififififififififififififififififififififififififififi first lady Niki C. Nikias and recruitments in recent years. Th ese exceptionally fifififififififififififififififififififififififififi gifted scholars and artists will jumpstart speciÿ c areas at the university or bridge disciplines that will prove particularly crucial in the coming decades. We call these individuals transformative faculty.

In this issue, you will encounter a landmark victory of this initiative and a major scientiÿ c recruitment to the Keck School of Medicine of USC: Dr. Andrew P. McMahon. A scientist of the absolute highest caliber, he will assume a key role in USC’s eff orts to lead the emerging biotechnology revolution.

Under Dr. McMahon’s guidance, we anticipate building a core group of faculty across the university to pursue scholarship that will beneÿ t our entire life-sciences research enterprise, as well as contribute to larger eff orts to understand basic human biology. Dr. McMahon will also work closely with USC clinicians to develop new stem cell therapies.

As part of these eff orts, and speciÿ cally to advance our innovative research in cancer, we have also recruited Dr. Stephen Gruber to serve as director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. He arrived at USC with a rare combination of skills and talents. A medical oncologist, a cancer geneticist and an epidemiologist, he understands how the genes inside our bodies interact with the environment around us, but his agenda prioritizes a larger goal: clinical translational medicine. He seeks to seamlessly blend the basic sciences, the social sciences and the political sciences. In doing so, he produces new drugs, new therapies and new medical devices that transform the way we ÿ ght every type of cancer.

I want to emphasize, however, that these strategic recruitments span all disciplines at USC, and Drs. McMahon and Gruber are simply two examples taken from a much larger cadre of eminent appointments. Our goal is to ÿ rmly establish the university as a place that deÿ nes excellence — in the arts and humanities, in the sciences and social sciences, in engineering, medicine and patient care, as well as in athletic spirit and public service.

To off er another example, Glenn Dicterow — who has served as concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic since 1980 — will join the USC Th ornton School of Music in the coming year as the inaugural holder of the Robert Mann Endowed Chair in Strings and Chamber Music.

For Professor Dicterow, this marks a homecoming of sorts. Before arriving at the New York Philharmonic, he was a violinist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for nearly 10 years, ultimately rising to the role of concertmaster. Growing up in Los Angeles, he studied with renowned violinist and USC faculty member Jascha Heifetz.

Professor Dicterow’s wife, violist Karen Dreyfus, will also join our faculty. She is an accomplished concert artist and music educator, having taught at Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard School and Mannes College in New York. She and Professor Dicterow bring a special blend of skills: In addition to being distinguished musicians, they are dedicated and inspiring teachers. ● 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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MyMy Fellow Trojans andand Friends: Fellow Trojans Friends: I would like tolast thank you all yourCollegiate continuingAthletic support of our athletic programs, teamsusand As I noted year, thefor National Association (NCAA) has directed to student-athletes. publicize the It has been my privilege and pleasure to lead the USC athletic department as it carries on the great Trojan traviolations and sanctions included in the NCAA’s June 10, 2010 Report each year during our probation.

The dition on thehas fields, onpublicly the courts and in the pool.

As a and partplaced of the NCAA sanction directives, arethrough required to university been reprimanded, censured on probation from June 10,we 2010 publicize the various violations and sanctions included in the NCAA’s June 10, 2010 report.

The university has June 9, 2014. beenWith publicly reprimanded, censured and placed on probation from June 10, 2010 through June 9, 2014. regard to football, the NCAA reported violations involving agent and amateurism issues, lack With regard to football, the NCAA reported violations involving agent and amateurism issues, lack of of institutional control, impermissible inducements, extra benefits, coach staff limits and unethical institutional control, impermissible inducements, extra benefits, exceeding coach staff limits and unethical conduct. The penalties include: a post-season ban for the 2010 and 2011 seasons; a vacation of wins and conduct. The penalties included: post-season ban for the 2010 and 2011 seasons; one-year show cause penthe individual records of a former football player from December 2004 through the 2005 season, and the alty (through June 9, 2011) for an assistant football coach; a vacation of wins and the individual records of a reconfi guration of thefrom records of the university and the to refl actions; a limit of 15 former football player December 2004 through thehead 2005coach season, andect thethose reconfi guration of the records initial scholarships and 75 total scholarships for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14; a $5,000 fi ne; disassociation of the university and the head coach to reflect those actions; a limit of 15 initial scholarships and 75 total of a former for football and prohibition nonuniversity personnel traveling team charters, scholarships each player; of the 2011-12, 2012-13of and 2013-14 seasons; a $5,000 fine;ondisassociation ofattenda former ing practices and having access to personnel sidelines and locker on rooms. football player; and andcamps, prohibition of nonuniversity traveling team charters, attending practices and camps, having access to sidelines and locker agent rooms.and amateurism issues, lack of institutional In men’sand basketball, the NCAA violations involved In men’simpermissible basketball, theinducements NCAA violations agent issues,alack of institutional control, control, and involved extra benefi ts. and The amateurism penalties include: post-season ban for impermissible inducements and extra benefi ts.

The penalties included: a post-season ban for the 2009-10 the 2009-10 season; a vacation of wins and the individual records of a former basketball player from the season; a vacation wins the individual of a former player the 2007-08 2007-08 season, of and theand reconfi guration ofrecords the records of the basketball university and thefrom head coach to reflseason, ect and the reconfi guration of the records of the university and the head coach to refl ect those actions; a limit of those actions; a limit of 12 scholarships for 2009-10 and 2010-11; one fewer coach permitted to recruit off 12 scholarships for each of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons; one fewer coach permitted to recruit off campus campus in the summer of 2010; a reduction of recruiting days by 20 for the 2010-11 season; the return of in the summer of 2010; a reduction of recruiting days by 20 for the 2010-11 season; the return of funds received funds received for appearing in the 2008 NCAA men’s basketball tournament and forfeiture of any future for appearing in the 2008 NCAA men’s basketball tournament and forfeiture of any future scheduled distribuscheduled distributions; disassociation of a former men’s basketball player and a representative of the tions; disassociation of a former men’s basketball player and a representative of the university’s financial interuniversity’s financial interests; release of three fromprohibition their letters intent; and prohibition of ests; the release of three recruitsthe from their letters ofrecruits intent; and ofofnonuniversity personnel from nonuniversity personnel traveling on team charters, attending practices and camps, and having access traveling on team charters, attending practices and camps, and having access to sidelines and locker rooms. to sidelines locker rooms.

With regardand to women’s tennis, the NCAA sanctions involved lack of institutional control and extra bento women’s the NCAA involved lack ofininstitutional control and extra tennis efits.With The regard penalties included:tennis, a vacation of winssanctions and individual records which an ineligible women’s benefi ts.

The penalties include: a vacation of wins and individual records in which an ineligible women’s player competed between November 2006 and May 2009, and the reconfiguration of the records of the university and the head coach to reflNovember ect those 2006 actions. tennis player competed between and May 2009, and the reconfiguration of the records Thank you for your support.

Rest that we will be vigilant in complying with the rules and of the university andcontinued the head coach to refl ectassured those actions. regulations of the NCAA and the PAC-12, and we will compete win withinintegrity andwith theall Trojan spirit.

Thank you for your continued support. Rest assured we willand be vigilant complying governing rules and regulations, and competing and winning with integrity.

Fight On Fight On

Patrick C. Haden Athletic PatrickDirector C. Haden Athletic Director

M I LY M AG A Z I N E autumn 2012 I LY M A G A Z I N E winter 2011 6 U4S CUTS RC OTJRAONJAFANMFA

mailbag Art Lover

I can sympathize with Anthony Sparks’ frustration because he couldn’t aff ord the concerts, plays and museums of greater Los Angeles (“Every Trojan an Art Lover,” Summer 2012, p. 16). During my years at USC, I was fortunate to have assistantships and fellowships paying my tuition, and to discover the partial-credit course “Concert Music and Plays,” which provided free tickets to those events. By enrolling in that course every semester, I had season tickets to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Center Th eater Group. I was a computer scientist in training, but I loved attending those performances.

Rodney Hoffman MS ’74 LOS ANGELES, CA

Bright Idea

I enjoyed the “Fluent in Innovation” article (Summer 2012, page 28). An idea has occurred to me that might be of interest to

the Health, Technology and Engineering at USC (HTE@USC) crew. Could a device be developed that could be portable and used to monitor many body functions and used at home by people so that doctors could determine if any problems are present? Skype or other devices could be used to permit communication between doctor and patient.

Howard McCrady ’53

PARADISE VALLEY, AZ

HTE@USC co-directors George Tolomiczenko and Terry Sanger reply: One of the advantages of starting the HTE program at USC is the variety of current pursuits among faculty across schools. Leslie Saxon, in particular, leads the Center for Body Computing, serves as an HTE mentor and hosts an annual interdisciplinary conference at USC that attracts people from many non-academic sectors. Consistent with your hunch, a variety of novel approaches to collecting, analyzing and sharing data have been featured at the conferences. Find out more about

some of these at uscbodycomputing.org

Notice Board

Th e USC University Archives needs your assistance in preserving the heritage of our university. We collect, preserve and share records having permanent value in documenting the university’s history. Books, manuscripts, USC periodicals and newspapers, posters, photographs, recordings and other archival items are available for research under supervised conditions. Gifts are greatly appreciated and carefully preserved. Contact czachary@usc.edu or visit us at usc.edu/arc/ libraries/uscarchives Claude Zachary USC UNIVERSITY ARCHIVIST

CAMPUS

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WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK. SUBMIT YOUR LETTER TO THE EDITOR AT tfm.usc.edu/mailbag

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52,000

A $3.24 million gift to USC from the Dharma Civilization Foundation is creating the first chairs of Hindu studies in the United States. The USC School of Religion — housed within the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences — will use the funds to establish two new positions: the Swami Vivekananda Visiting Faculty in Hindu Studies and the Dharma Civilization Foundation Chair in Hindu Studies. The L.A.-based Dharma Civilization Foundation promotes study of the Dharmic religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. “As one of the preeminent research universities of the Pacific Rim, it is natural for USC to be a leader in the study of Asian religions,” says USC Dean of Religious Life Varun Soni, the nation’s first university chaplain from a Hindu background. Adds School of Religion Chairman Duncan Williams, himself an ordained Buddhist priest, “This gift will help distinguish the USC School of Religion by emphasizing strengths in areas that don’t have a history in divinity schools.”

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U S C T R O JA N FA M I LY M AG A Z I N E

autumn 2012

100 years ago, the Daily Trojan newspaper published its first edition on February 24, 1912

LIGHT-SPEED INTERNET Researchers have developed a way to transmit data at ultra-high speeds using twisted beams of light.

Broadband cable maxes out at 30 megabits per second. The new system can travel at 2.56 terabits per second — an 85,000-fold improvement. USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Alan Willner led the multinational team that designed the system, using “phase holograms” to manipulate eight beams of light so each one twists into a DNA-like helical shape.

RICHER BUT SADDER IN CHINA

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS USC Olympians dominated the London 2012 Olympics, winning 25 medals, including 12 gold medals — a record for an American university.

These achievements build on an unrivaled Olympic heritage. Since 1904, 418 Trojans have competed in the Olympic Games and earned 287 medals, 135 of them gold. In fact, USC athletes have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Olympics for the past 108 years. Above, USC alumna Allyson Felix ’08 took home the gold in the 200-meter dash and in the 400- and 1600-meter relays in London.

Despite the economic boom, Chinese people are less happy than they were two decades ago. In 1990, large majorities across age, education, income and regions were about equally happy.

Sixty-eight percent of the wealthiest and 65 percent of the poorest reported high levels of life satisfaction. Today, happiness among China’s poorest has fallen to 42 percent, while it has grown to 71 percent among the wealthiest. The study comes from USC “happiness economics” pioneer Richard Easterlin.

L I G H T B E A M P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F C R E AT I V I T Y 1 0 3 . C O M ; F E L I X P H O T O B Y G E T T Y I M A G E S

Big Boost for Dharma

Holocaust-survivor testimonies now digitally preserved and indexed minute by minute at the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education

Inhuman Touch When a robot touches something, does it feel it? With the right sensors and software, it can. In fact, it can outperform humans in identifying a wide range of natural materials by their textures — a skill that paves the way for major advancements in prostheses, personal assistive robots and consumer product testing. USC Viterbi School of Engineering Professor Gerald Loeb and Jeremy Fishel PhD ’12 equipped a robot with their BioTac® sensor, built to mimic the human fingertip. As the “finger” slides over a textured surface, its gel-filled flexible skin vibrates in characteristic ways. These vibrations are detected by a hydrophone inside the bone-like core of the finger. Built by Fishel, the robot was trained on 117 common materials gathered from fabric, stationery and hardware stores. When confronted with a material at random, the robot correctly identified the material 95 percent of the time — far more accurately than a human could.

50 percent is the salary advantage of college-educated minorities working in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) field, as compared with nonscientist peers, according to a study by Tatiana Melguizo of the USC Rossier School of Education

TENNIS HEROICS In May, the top-seeded USC men’s tennis team won its fourth straight NCAA championship. The showdown in Athens, Ga., was a rematch of the 2011 national championship against the University of Virginia. The Trojans fought through rain delays, venue changes and some of the tensest matches on record to become the first team to win four consecutive national championships since Stanford’s 1995-1998 streak. In total team championships the Trojans are unrivaled, with 20 national titles.

Attorney and real estate investment executive Lisa Denton Barkett ’81 begins a five-year term on the USC Board of Trustees.

Thomas J. Barrack Jr. ’69, founder and CEO of Colony Capital — one of the world’s largest private equity real estate firms — was named a new USC Board of Trustee.

New York Philharmonic concertmaster and violinist Glenn Dicterow and his wife, renowned violist Karen Dreyfus, will join the USC Thornton School of Music faculty in 2013.

INSPIRATIONAL TWINS All 54 graduates of USC’s Neighborhood Academic Initiative are continuing their post-secondary education. That’s not unusual. Over the past 15 years, 99 percent of graduates from this rigorous pre-college program serving USC’s neighborhoods have gone to college, more than a third on full-tuition scholarships at USC. But this year, twin brothers Arnulfo and Jesus Moran have raised the NAI-grad bar: In September, Arnulfo enrolled at West Point, and Jesus entered Harvard.

USC health care administrator Scott Evans PharmD ’98 was named CEO of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital.

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A Big

Splash

RENDERINGS COURTESY OF ELS ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN

Former swim captain says ‘thanks’ with an $8 million gift.

WILFRED “FRED” UYTENGSU ’83 still remembers the ÿ rst time he visited the “Dungeon,” as USC’s aging indoor pool is aff ectionately known. Th en a 16-year-old swimmer deciding which colleges to apply to, he had arranged a meeting with legendary Trojan swim coach Peter Daland.

“It was pretty inspiring to [see] Bruce Furniss, John Naber, Steve Pickell and other great Trojan swimmers,” Uytengsu recalls.

“Th e thought of being able to be on the same swim team was compelling. In spite of the ‘Dungeon,’ I was sold at that moment.”

Th irty years on, Uytengsu has made it a lot easier for future coaches to recruit top young swimmers. His $8 million gift — the largest ever made to USC Athletics by a former student-athlete — enables the university to break ground this fall on a $17 million complex to be called the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

“Without a doubt, swimming at USC … was a great opportunity,” says Uytengsu, who went from an unrecruited freshman walkon swimmer invited by Daland to join the team to the team’s captain in his senior year.

“Every captain before me was an Olympian or an All-American swimmer, and ’SC had never had a walk-on swimmer take on that role. It was an amazing experience.”

Uytengsu, who holds a bachelor’s degree from the USC Marshall School of Business’ entrepreneurship program, is now president and CEO of Alaska Milk Corp. Founded by his late father, Wilfred Sr., in 1972, the Philippines-based company manufactures, distributes and sells milk products, and is that country’s leading publicly listed consumer foods corporation.

Th e USC grad is also a triathlete —

credited with bringing the Ironman and XTERRA races to the Philippines. In addition, his family owns the Alaska Aces, a professional basketball team that has won 13 Philippine Basketball Association championships since joining the league in 1986.

AT UYTENGSU’S REQUEST, the pool in the new center will be named for Coach Daland, who guided USC’s men’s swimming program from 1958 to 1992, winning 17 con-

[ SUPPORT REPORT ]

structure, seating up to 2,500 people; and a new entry on McClintock Avenue. Plans call for locker rooms for the men’s and women’s swimming, diving and water polo programs; coaches’ offi ces; and a multipurpose room.

“Fred’s gift will have an impact beyond brick and mortar,” says Dave Salo, who has coached the men’s swimming team for the past six years.

“Th e design of the new facility will make the spectator experience so much more enjoyable. USC student-athletes of today and tomorrow will have greater access to their coaches and trainers, and the unique opportunity to train in a world-class facility.”

“I’m pleased to be able to give back and support the university’s goal of upgrading facilities,” Uytengsu says. “USC has a proud tradition and a lifelong, worldwide reach.

In order for this tradition to continue, I can

Alumnus Wilfred “Fred” Uytengsu’s $8 million gift will fund the Uytengsu Aquatic Center.

ference crowns. According to Uytengsu, Daland deserves to be recognized for his NCAA championships as well as for the profound impact he had on all of the swimmers he coached over his 35 seasons at USC. Th e center also will feature a new dive tower; a dry-land training area; a hightech scoreboard with video capabilities; a tiered stadium, complete with a shade

only suggest that Trojan alums consider giving back to an institution that has had a lasting impact on our lives.”

In addition to keeping USC’s tradition of swimming excellence alive, he and his wife, Kerri (Dunn) Uytengsu ’84, are giving back in other ways: Ashton, the eldest of the couple’s three children, graduated from USC Marshall in 2009. ● 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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A new endowment will fund scholarships for law students committed to LGBT rights.

THIS YEAR, A STUDENT organization made history by becoming the ÿ rst on-campus group to launch an eff ort to endow a scholarship at the USC Gould School of Law. For years, OUTLaw — formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Law Union — has raised scholarship funds for students whose career goals include working in behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. But in 2011-12, rather than giving away all the funds and starting again from zero, the group’s leadership decided to look ahead.

“We wanted to create an endowment that

would last forever,” says Elliot Rozenberg, a third-year law student who was OUTLaw president for 2011-12 and now serves as endowment fundraising chair.

OUTLaw was created to bring together LGBT law students at USC. Today, the group’s membership includes nearly 20 percent of the school’s student body, encompassing not only LGBT students but also those who support LGBT equality.

To help gather alumni support for the scholarship drive, Rozenberg contacted Seth Levy JD ’01, general counsel of the It Gets Better Project (created by nationally

USC Gould School of Law Dean Robert K. Rasmussen, left, with Seth Levy JD ’01, general counsel of the It Gets Better Project, and senior law student Jennifer Bryant

Biomed Miracle Workers The new USC Institute of Biomedical Therapeutics promises to improve the quality of life for millions of people worldwide.

WHEN MARK HUMAYUN’S grandmother went blind from diabetic retinopathy, she lost more than her sight. “She just gave up on life,” recalls the USC ophthalmologist, neuroscientist and biomedical engineer. “People often don’t understand that when you are old and ailing, and

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2012

syndicated gay columnist Dan Savage).

Levy was happy to help. “I had just come out of the closet, and I was starting a whole new chapter,” Levy says, recalling his experiences as a student at USC Gould in the late 1990s. “Th is time was extremely important for me. At USC, I found an environment I had never experienced before. I started working for Professor David Cruz and the Gay and Lesbian Center, and I had amazing experiences.”

OUTLAW KICKED OFF the scholarship drive with a gala dinner in April at the Radisson Hotel near USC. Th e event drew some 100 students, alumni, faculty and staff as well as members of the broader Los Angeles legal community. Presenters included Levy and Cruz, who now serves as OUTLaw faculty adviser.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these students,” says USC Gould Dean Robert K. Rasmussen, who also spoke at the dinner.

“Th eir work and dedication are truly remarkable. Th eir eff orts highlight the inclusive nature of our law school community.”

Th e event brought in about $22,000 – nearly a quarter of the $100,000 endowment goal, according to Rozenberg.

Once fully endowed, the OUTLaw scholarship will support at least one student annually who is either a member of the LGBT community or supports LGBT rights, and who displays an interest in pursuing LGBT equality through the law. Attorneys working in this ÿ eld, says Rozenberg, are unlikely to land high-salary jobs, and often have trouble paying off their student loans. ●

then you go blind, that can be the last straw.”

Driven by this knowledge, for the last two decades Humayun has dedicated himself to restoring vision to the blind. He has made major strides over that time, developing therapies for patients with conditions previously considered incurable.

Now, under the auspices of the newly formed USC Institute of Biomedical Therapeutics (IBT), Humayun is poised to lead a team of scientists to broader discoveries in the understanding of neural networks — the system of internal “wiring” that conveys messages from nerve cells, especially when they are damaged or deteriorated.

A University Professor with joint appointments at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Humayun is envisioning new methods to study and treat debilitating brain conditions ranging from stroke, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

P H OTO B Y I R E N E F E R T I K ; I L L U S T R AT I O N C O U R T E S Y O F U S C / D O H E N Y E Y E I N S T I T U T E

Equality for All

From Touchdowns to Persian Poetry Jillian Olivas is experiencing USC to the fullest thanks to an undergraduate scholarship.

JILLIAN OLIVAS IS A lifelong USC football fan and second-generation Trojan whose academic dreams came true thanks to the Wells Cisneros Scholarship at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Endowed by alumna Jacki Wells Cisneros ’95 and her husband, Gilbert Cisneros, after they won the Mega Millions lottery in 2010, the scholarship is awarded annually to an undergraduate at USC Annenberg. Olivas, who just completed her freshman year, is the first recipient.

P H OTO B Y D I E T M A R Q U I S TO R F

I am so excited to be at USC. It’s been my desire to attend school here ever since I can remember.

My dad [John Olivas ’83] went to USC, and I

grew up coming to the football games with him.

USC was a second home for me, so I knew I wanted to go here, but financially, I didn’t know if I could justify it. After I got the scholarship, there was no question.

I really love USC, but in particular I love USC Annenberg. Everybody is willing to help you out. Anytime I go to see my adviser, he’s available to me. The USC Annenberg faculty are very available, too.

Being at USC Annenberg, you have to keep up with current events more than the average person. Since I’ve been at USC, my interests have led me to international news, particularly the Middle East. I find the cultures fascinating, and the Middle East is a particularly volatile

He has already taken the treatment of blindness to unprecedented levels. Using bioelectronics at the micro- and nano-scale, Humayun and his colleagues created Argus — a device that bypasses damaged nerve cells to restore a degree of sight. Named for the hundred-eyed giant in Greek mythology, the device consists of a tiny camera and transmitter mounted in sunglasses, an implanted receiver, an electrode array placed on the retina, and a small video processor and battery pack that can be worn on a belt or kept in a purse. Argus works by converting images captured by the camera into electronic signals and sending them to the electrodes, which, in turn, excite the retinal nerve cells. Nerve impulses are conveyed via the optic nerve to the brain, enabling the patient to “see” light and basic shapes in black and white.

Since 2002, Argus I and its successor, Argus II, have restored partial sight to 39 people. In 2012, the second-generation device was approved for use in Europe, becoming the world’s first commercially available

region now. I think understanding it is important for everyone, especially for journalists. I’m thinking of starting a Middle East studies minor next year.

Aside from journalism, I’m also interested in classic literature, particularly that of ancient Greece and Rome. I’ve started reading the Persian national epic, the Shahnameh, “the Book of Kings” [by the 10thcentury poet Ferdowsi]. When Iranian author Azar Nafisi came to speak at USC through Visions & Voices [USC’s arts and humanities initiative], she recommended the book. I find it fascinating.

Another one of my favorite pastimes is golf, which I only recently took up. As for my skill in that regard, let’s just say that golf becomes very inexpensive on a per-stroke basis.

I’m very honored to have been chosen for the Wells Cisneros Scholarship. I’ve enjoyed talking to Jackie and Gilbert. During my first semester I met with both of them for dinner on campus, and last semester I met with Jackie for lunch. Jackie is a great resource for career advice. Even though she is in broadcast journalism and I am a print major, I get a lot out of what she has to say.

Establishing new endowed funds for undergraduate scholarships is a key priority of the Campaign for the University of Southern California. Stories such as Jillian’s underscore what a difference scholarship funds can make. ●

retinal implant.

By 2018 Humayun and his colleagues hope to develop a device that potentially could restore a patient’s ability to read. His team also is using nanotechnology — engineering devices at the molecular scale — to further improve sight, perhaps to the point of restoring color vision.

At the IBT, scientists, engineers and clinicians from seven USC schools are collaborating with investigators from universities around the world on these and other projects that promise to improve the quality of life for millions of people worldwide.

“Great discoveries occur at the boundaries of disciplines,” Humayun says. “We have a culture of interdisciplinary, translational biomedical research at USC. It is at the heart of education and innovation.”

To advance this research, USC Provost Elizabeth Garrett has identified the IBT as a top fundraising priority within the Campaign for the University of Southern California. ●

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MCMAHON POWER

By Diane Krieger

Andrew McMahon moves USC to the vanguard of regenerative medicine.

[ CAMPUS CATALYSTS ]

PHOTOS BY PHILIP CHANNING

WITH HIS DISARMING MODESTY,

wry humor and delightful Liverpool accent, it’s hard not to like Andrew McMahon the minute he opens his mouth to speak.

Shortly before his move to Los Angeles from Cambridge, Mass., the newly recruited director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC was preoccupied with transportation logistics.

“I think the mice arrive ÿ rst, then me next,” he said, in the clipped cadences of his native northwest England. He grew up in the industrial town of Birkenhead, directly across the Mersey River from Liverpool.

Lab mice ÿ gure prominently in the world of this renowned developmental biologist, who became a professor at Harvard University in 1993 and was one of the founding principal faculty of the elite Harvard Stem Cell Institute. “It’s quite an exercise to be shifting mice, my family and 10 other families across,” he says. Th e 10 other families belong to his research team at Harvard — nearly all of whom made the trek to USC. Most important among them is lab manager Jill McMahon, a Harvard staff scientist and McMahon’s wife of nearly 30 years. Th e two met at a conference in the early 1980s.

McMahon was a postdoc at Caltech; his future wife was working on her PhD at the University of Colorado.

In addition to directing the Broad Center, McMahon heads USC’s newly created Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, which he has a mandate to populate with a dozen new faculty hires.

Th e Broad Center currently houses the research of 11 principal faculty scientists; its core facilities support another 60 associate researchers. With the addition of McMahon’s new department, those numbers are growing. Happily, the $80 million facility — a ÿ ve-story, 87,500-square-foot building that opened in 2010 — can accommodate the growth.

While the details have yet to be ironed out, McMahon — who is a Provost Professor and the inaugural holder of the W. M. Keck Professorship in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine — envisions the

new department as a “broad, cross-university type of department.” He has met with deans and directors from such far-fl ung disciplines as cinematic arts and bioengineering in search of untapped synergies.

Under McMahon’s leadership, all of this growth and collaboration across USC’s two campuses puts the university at the forefront

“The strongest researchers are people who spend the most time talking to the undergraduates.” of one of health care’s great challenges — harnessing the body’s own repair mechanisms, including stem cells, to regenerate damaged tissues and organs, and to combat cancer and other diseases.

With so much on his plate, McMahon surprised top USC administrators when he stipulated that he be allowed to teach an undergraduate course each year. “I ÿ nd it very useful in terms of structuring my own thought,” he explains. “It clariÿ es your thinking when you’re talking to someone you are trying to explain the problem to.

In general, what I see is that the strongest researchers are often people who spend the most time talking to the undergraduates.”

Communication is actually an important theme in McMahon’s research. He is best known for his contributions to understanding how cells talk to one another in order to build diff erent organ systems, and his early work involved X chromosome inactivation.

Later on, his basic research into the biology of a mammalian cell-signaling system known as the Hedgehog pathway laid the foundation for the development of a novel anti-cancer drug called Vismodegib. Approved earlier this year by the Federal Drug Administration in the treatment of advanced basal-cell carcinoma, it is undergoing clinical trials to treat a half-dozen other cancers.

Most recently, he has focused on the kidney, pioneering new ways to look at that organ’s complex three-dimensional organization.

Th e son of an accountant and one of ÿ ve children, McMahon fell in love with molecular biology while studying for the Oxford University entrance exams. He graduated from Oxford with a bachelor’s degree in zoology in 1978, and he earned his PhD in genetics at University College London three years later.

For such an accomplished scientist, he is strikingly modest.

“No, no. I was never an academic standout,” he says. “When you’ve been to places like Oxford and Harvard, you realize what academic standouts are.”

Henry Sucov begs to diff er. One of the Broad Center’s principal faculty members and its interim director since 2011, he has known McMahon since the mid1980s, when they both worked in the lab of Caltech biologist Eric H. Davidson. Sucov was on the search committee that recruited McMahon. Charged by the provost and the Keck School dean to “aim high,” Sucov says the committee “developed a list of people we would love to get, and Andy was on that list.”

He adds, “None of us thought we could get him to take the position.”

McMahon surprised them. As he told The Chronicle of Higher Education , he turned down an off er from UC San Francisco because he sensed a “greater potential to build something” at USC. ● See a related Q+A at tfm.usc.edu/mcmahon

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Security expert Erroll Southers, left, and computer scientist Milind Tambe at the Port of Los Angeles, a potential terrorist target and focus of research by USC’s National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events.

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THEE

By Merrill Ballassoone

At USC, the first U.S. Department of Homeland Security-funded Center of Excellence fights terrorism with game theory, computer algorithms and weapons of social science.

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HEATHER ROSOFF HAD IT all planned out.

She’d spent weeks ÿ guring out how to obtain radioactive material. She’d looked for blueprints on bomb construction. She’d scoped out abandoned industrial spaces suitable for bomb building and collected maps showing the layouts of her targets: the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

So perhaps she shouldn’t have been startled when two government agents banged on her front door one morning. Th e stone-faced men fl ashed their badges, insisting she answer some questions. Right now.

“At ÿ rst I thought it was a joke, so I didn’t let them in,” recalls the assistant research professor from the USC Price School of Public Policy. But mentally reviewing her sinistersounding research, she could see how it might be misconstrued.

Rosoff never determined exactly why “the suits” showed up on her doorstep, but she had been “playing terrorist” as part of a USC study on the likelihood of a bomb attack spewing radioactive material throughout the ports.

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Th e potential attack could cripple operations there, costing billions a day. Th e researcher had perhaps played her role too well.

Years ago, those from the shadowy world of counterterrorism might have bristled at the idea of university scholars treading on their turf. Not anymore.

Rosoff ’s work was conducted just months after USC opened the country’s ÿ rst universitybased terrorism research center funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Launchedin2004withathree-year, $12 million DHS grant, the National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events — known as CREATE — is a “living laboratory,” says the center’s director, Stephen Hora. It brings together more than 100 researchers from ÿ elds as disparate as psychology, computer science, mathematics, economics and public policy, all intent on identifying the next potential terrorist attack before it happens.

DHS has twice renewed the grant, pouring another $26.3 million into CREATE.

Computer scientist Michael Orosz’s PortSec software analyzes information in real time about the operation and security of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

OPENING SPREAD AND PORT OF LOS ANGELES PHOTOS BY NOE MONTES; CREATE RESEARCHERS PHOTO BY DIETMAR QUISTORF

The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest container port in the United States. CREATE researchers have studied its vulnerability to bombs and cyberattacks.

“It’s not a natural instinct for the intelligence or homeland security community to get universities involved, because universities are so open and free thinking,” says risk analyst Detlof von Winterfeldt, a professor with USC Price and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Von Winterfeldt, who co-founded and formerly directed CREATE, teamed with Rosoff to create the bomb simulations in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

“Th e value of a university center is to put some rationality and creativity into the decision making on security,” von Winterfeldt says.

security and terrorism in a controlled environment — in government labs or private institutes, with constraints on what they could publish and how they could communicate,” says Hall, a systems engineer who formerly worked for General Motors. “But as a university, we could have open debates on the diff erent threats and diff erent strategies. We could do something special.”

IT’S ĥ:∑ĥ A.M., and computer scientist Milind

Tambe is in the bowels of an East Hollywood subway station, watching as a team of Los Angeles County sheriff ’s deputies pat down IN 2001, JUST MONTHS AFTER 19 men armed a fare jumper some 20 feet away.

Th e suspect, tattoos ringing his neck, with crude weapons hijacked four planes and glowers at the deputies. Little does he know killed nearly 3,000 people, USC researchers it is the USC professor, busily tapping notes gathered in downtown Los Angeles, anxious to know how their expertise might help protect into his smartphone, who helped engineer his the nation from the next terrorist threat. run-in with the law that morning.

Randolph Hall, vice president for research Tambe developed Assistant for Randomin the Offi ce of the Provost, convened that ized Monitoring Over Routes (ARMOR), a ÿ rst meeting, knowing the university already sophisticated software system that spits out possessed suffi cient expertise to staff a world- intricate patrol schedules for law enforcement, class terrorism research center. USC faculty helping police not only catch criminals but also members had studied nuclear power plant scour trains with bomb-sniffi ng dogs. Because safety in the wake of Chernobyl, created a the schedules are randomized, they have no mini-Internet to serve as a test-bed for cyberdiscernible pattern to, say, assist a potential security eff orts, and trained more than 20,000 terrorist casing a target. professionals in aviation safety.

Tambe’s research is rooted in game theory “Many people were studying homeland — a mathematical approach to predicting how

confl ict might play out between adversaries, be they countries at war or corporations seeking a leg up in the marketplace.

He applies the rules of a “leader-follower” game, commonly used to predict the behavior of competing businesses. After 9/11 Tambe wondered: Could this chess-like strategy be applied to counterterrorism, where a faceless adversary — or follower — could be lurking, looking for patterns or vulnerabilities in the leader’s movements, and waiting to exploit them?

“Th e problem is a game, and computer science allows us to solve some very big games,” Tambe says.

Th e rules of this game involve limited security resources, a large number of potential targets and a terrorist adversary who will react and adapt. If badly played, the outcomes can be horriÿ c.

Th at’s why the patrol schedules ARMOR generates aren’t completely random. Th e system is smart enough to “load the dice,” providing greater protection to what’s most vulnerable or important, such as a heavily trafficked subway stop or airport terminal.

Since 2007, police checkpoints monitoring vehicle traffi c at Los Angeles International Airport and canine units dispatched throughout the airport’s terminals have relied on ARMOR. In 2009, Tambe’s software began

CREATE brings together more than 100 researchers from fields as disparate as psychology, computer science, mathematics, economics and public policy, all intent on identifying the next potential terrorist attack before it happens.

Launched just a few years after 9/11, CREATE is a “living laboratory” of researchers from many disciplines, says the center’s director, Stephen Hora, right. He meets with fellow risk analysts Heather Rosoff , an assistant research professor at USC Price, and Detlof von Winterfeldt, who formerly directed the center.

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shuffling the schedules of thousands of air marshals — the undercover police deployed on flights around the world as a last line of defense against hijackings. A test is under way using the technology with U.S. Coast Guard patrols in the ports of Boston and New York.

The National Football League wants to know how Tambe’s software can help screen for dangerous or illicit items among crowds entering stadiums. And officials from the Global Tigers Initiative, an international organization

Security under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He was President Barack Obama’s first pick to head the Transportation Security Administration.

While law enforcement is increasingly reliant on high-tech tools, Southers firmly believes that, when it comes to terrorism, the focus needs to be on finding the bomber, not the bomb.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what kind of technology we have,” he says. “An

able. In a recent class, one of his students tried to challenge that assertion: If terrorism can be linked to any academic subject, then how about music?

That’s an easy one. Southers pointed to Omar Hammami, the Alabama-born radical Islamist who joined a group of al-Qaeda-linked Somali militants in 2007 and made rap videos to recruit followers. Hammami’s titles include “Send Me a Cruise [Missile]” and “Make Jihad With Me.”

Years ago, those from the shadowy world of counterterrorism might have bristled at the idea of university scholars treading on their turf. Not anymore.

Erroll Southers, who has put some of CREATE’s most successful projects into practice, says counterterrorism should focus on finding the bomber, not the bomb.

dedicated to saving tigers from extinction, are interested in Tambe’s randomization software as a tool in the fight against poachers and the trade in illegal animal parts.

SHOES OFF, NO MANICURE SCISSORS, a ban on liquids, pat downs or potentially embarrassing body scans — the restrictions on air travelers seem to change every few months.

Erroll Southers, associate director for research transition at CREATE and an adjunct professor at USC Price, has observed these tightened security measures with keen interest.

Southers is no outsider; he spent years with the FBI working as an undercover agent and on the bureau’s SWAT team. He was deputy director of California’s Office of Homeland

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Milind Tambe’s ARMOR software uses game theory to help law enforcement outwit adversaries who look for behavior patterns when planning attacks.

attack is thought about, developed, delivered or detonated by a human being.”

Straddling the worlds of academia and law enforcement, Southers has been the key to putting some of CREATE’s most successful projects into practice. He helped get Tambe’s ARMOR software out in the field. He also backed CREATE computer scientist Michael Orosz’s PortSec system, which culls data and intelligence in real time from various agencies tasked with operating and securing the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Despite the heavy emphasis on digital technologies, CREATE actually has an interdisciplinary mission.

Fighting terrorism, Southers explains, leverages nearly every academic discipline imagin-

TO ANTICIPATE WHICH TARGETS terrorists will

choose, Rosoff, the role-playing would-be bomb maker, and her colleague Richard John, a psychologist from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, try to get into terrorists’ heads.

Rosoff ’s dissertation topic is the stuff of nightmares: She spent months poring over the writings of terrorists and interviewing those who have had close contact with them in search of a fuller understanding of what makes groups like al-Qaeda and Hezbollah tick. The result: a model for the terrorist mindset, showing how the beliefs and values of different terrorist groups influence the likelihood that they’ll choose a specific target or method of attack.

“Terrorist organizations are probably some

S O U T H E R S A N D TA M B E P H OTO S B Y N O E M O N T E S ; L O S A N G E L E S I N T E R N AT I O N A L A I R P O R T P H OTO B Y D AV I D F R A Z I E R / C O R B I S

CREATE’s model of terrorist groups can help law enforcement direct its resources toward the most likely threats. That’s important, as the United States has spent $1.1 trillion on homeland security since 9/11.

Police checkpoints monitoring vehicle traffic at Los Angeles International Airport and canine units in the airport’s terminals rely on randomization software developed at CREATE.

of the easiest organizations to model — much easier than Apple or any Fortune 500 company or certainly the U.S. Congress,” John says.

“Terrorists are very upfront about their motivations and what their objectives are.”

Rosoff and John say their model can help law enforcement direct its resources toward the most likely threats. That’s an important priority. Since the 9/11 attacks, the United States has spent $1.1 trillion on homeland security. And that sum represents only part of terrorism’s economic impact.

On an Al Jazeera website in 2004, Osama bin Laden claimed al-Qaeda had spent just $500,000 to perpetrate the 9/11 attacks while inflicting $500 billion in economic damage on America. It turns out the actual cost was

much, much higher. On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, The New York Times put the overall cost of 9/11 to the U.S. at $3.3 trillion, or about $7 million for every dollar al-Qaeda spent planning and executing the attacks.

The Times was relying in part on data compiled by CREATE economist Adam Rose.

But the story that went untold, Rose says, was America’s economic resilience after the attacks.

Rather than folding, 95 percent of businesses operating in or near the World Trade Center reopened their doors in new locations soon after the attacks.

“Osama bin Laden did not succeed in

››

achieving one of his major stated goals: to destroy the U.S. economy,” Rose says.

This parallels what CREATE architect Randolph Hall thinks will be the center’s legacy — protecting the United States against catastrophic threats, while keeping the fear of terrorism in perspective.

“We could build walls around the country, build walls around our city and feel that we’re safe,” Hall says. “But [we would also be] destroying our economy, our culture, our vibrancy. In some ways, that’s what al-Qaeda wanted. We need to provide safety by also providing the ability for the world to thrive.” ●

VIEW MORE FROM THIS FEATURE AT tfm.usc.edu/autumn-2012/create

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.1%

75%

The USC Dornsife/ Los Angeles Times Poll’s margin of error in predicting the 2010 California gubernatorial race

California voters who say gay marriage is not a key issue

USC makes headlines in opinion research with help from the Los Angeles Times.

46%

Poll respondents’ language preference

38%

California voters who support legalization of marijuana for recreational use by adults

Spanish

62% English

59%

California voters who now oppose the ballot proposition for a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco that passed by a 52 percent majority in 2008

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By Matt Kredell / Art by Dongyi Wu LIKE WEATHER FORECASTING and economic

predictions, opinion polling is an imprecise science. So when a polling organization proves accurate, it wins respect and loyal followers.

Th is was the happy fate that greeted the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences/Los Angeles Times Poll almost from day one. Launched in 2009, the universitynewspaper collaboration wowed observers in its initial election cycle, distinguishing itself by making the most accurate prediction of the California gubernatorial race.

Th e poll’s ÿ nal projection that Democrat Jerry Brown would defeat Republican Meg Whitman by 13 percent was just one-tenth of a percent off the actual 12.9 percent margin.

Every other poll in California and the nation came in low when predicting Brown’s margin of victory. Th e USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll also came within 2 percent on Democrat Barbara Boxer’s victory over Republican Carly Fiorina for U.S. Senate.

Th e poll has brought tremendous visibility to the university, says Dan Schnur, the political scientist who runs the joint venture from his perch as director of the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics. “Th e survey received more mentions in the news media than any other topic related to the University of Southern California,” he says.

USC Dornsife and the Los Angeles Times collaboration came on the heels of the announcement, right after the 2008 presidential election, that the Times was shutting down its own venerable in-house polling unit. Sensing an opportunity, Schnur approached the Times to propose a joint venture. While there was little precedent for such a partnership, it’s clearly advantageous to both organizations.

“Th ere’s no question that sharing the cost was part of the attraction for the Times,” says Schnur, “but a much greater motivation was the shared credibility that the two institutions brought to the project.” Schnur brings a fair amount of credibility in his own right: He served as director of communications for the 2000 presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain and spent ÿ ve years as chief media spokesman for California Gov. Pete Wilson in the 1990s.

Published four to six times a year, the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll is the product of a highly symbiotic relationship. “We work jointly with the Times to decide how many polls

will be done each year, the timing of those polls, the topics covered and the questions asked,” Schnur says.

Schnur hammers out the general framework for the year’s polls with Times editor-in-chief Davan Maharaj, who then directs him to speciÿ c editors and reporters with a deep knowledge of the state and its politics. To eliminate political bias, two private opinion research ÿ rms are used to canvass registered California voters: the Democratic-leaning Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and the Republican-leaning America Viewpoint.

Together, the professor and the journalists work with the polling ÿ rms to develop and ÿ ne-tune the survey instrument and analyze its results. In follow-up sessions, the Times professionals often come to USC to take part in classroom discussions.

In addition to kudos for accuracy, the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll quickly gained a reputation for innovation. Leading up to the 2010 election, the poll interviewed 1,500 people. No other state poll queried more than 1,100. (Respondents are randomly selected from a list of statewide registered voters and contacted via landline or cell.)

While Schnur usually works alone, in 2010 he reached out to USC Dornsife political scientist Jane Junn for help. At the time Schnur was on leave from the university, serving as chairman of California’s Fair Political Practices Commission. Junn introduced an important innovation: She decided to give Latino voters the option of being interviewed in Spanish.

“By doing bilingual interviews, we managed to get a better representation of Latino voters,” Junn says. Th e technique yields higher rates of response and cooperation. It also boosts the poll’s accuracy. In the May 2012 poll, 38 percent of Latino respondents chose to have the interview conducted in Spanish; 62 percent opted for English.

Th is spring, Schnur introduced yet another innovation: the USC Dornsife Online Survey. Although Web-based polling is fairly commonplace in the private sector, it’s relatively new in the political world. Th e approach has several advantages: • Th e survey is conducted over just two or three days, limiting the possible impact of breaking news or current events on survey results. (Th e phone-based poll is

conducted over a week.)

• When asking for a reaction to a quote from, say, President Obama, a video clip can be streamed instantly from the Web page, giving respondents a sense of how he delivered the words.

• Before answering a question, respondents can stop the survey and do an Internet search to become better informed on the speciÿ c issue.

Online surveys also let pollsters probe more deeply. Th e typical phone poll lasts 22 to 24 minutes, Schnur explains. “At that point you really are testing the patience of your respondents.” With Web surveys, the respondents don’t have to ÿ nish in one sitting, which means pollsters can ask more questions.

In an initial experiment in April, the online survey, for the sake of comparison, repeated all the questions of the telephone poll. Th e majority of responses fell within the margin of error, indicating that the online poll was accurate.

However, the online poll ran about ÿ ve or six minutes longer than the phone poll and included a dozen additional questions.

Th e extra questions teased out some interesting nuances. Th e telephone poll indicated that 63 percent of voters disapproved of President Obama’s handling of gas prices.

Th e online survey recorded the same 63 percent disapproving, but found that only 13 percent blamed Obama for the higher gas prices. Twenty-one percent blamed problems in the Middle East, and 38 percent blamed oil companies.

Online respondents also were more likely to mark “don’t know” when they had no strong opinion, or to choose “both” when given multiple options. Schnur sees these as more honest answers.

A subsequent Web-only survey, released early in June, leading up to the California primary elections, earned its own stripes for extreme accuracy. It reported that Rep. Brad Sherman had a 9.5 percent edge over Rep. Howard Berman in the newly redrawn 30th Congressional District. Sherman won at the polls by 10 percent. Th e survey results were obtained after respondents viewed campaign ads for both candidates.

Th e online survey is expected to run at least two more times before the November election. ●

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MODERNISM FOR THE MASSES

BY ALLISON ENGEL

Homes by Modern architect William Krisel ’49 — like this one in Twin Palms Estates in Palm Springs, Calif. — have become synonymous with mid-20th-century Southern Californian design. Krisel’s wife, Corrine, appears in this photo taken by famed architectural photographer Julius Shulman.

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starting in the early 1950S, architect william krisel ’49 designed tens of thousands of graceful, light-filled modern homes that ordinary people could afford. now, these midcentury houses are enjoying a renaissance as accolades roll in for their still-active creator.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, Walter Gropius and other big-name architects tried to bring Modern home design to the masses, but their projects were never constructed on a large scale. To ÿ nd a still-active midcentury architect who actually brought clean, dramatic design to the middle class, look instead to USC-trained architect William Krisel ’49.

Krisel and a handful of others, including the late Edward Fickett ’37, made their names by bringing innovative style to tract developments — a part of the business shunned by the architecture establishment.

Th ese proliÿ c Modernists are only lately getting the attention they deserve.

Th e role of architects in creating massproduced housing in the post-World War II period has been overlooked, according to James Steele, a professor at the USC School of Architecture who is writing a history of the school. Th at’s because “most architects turned their backs on providing housing for the postwar baby boom, and developers ÿ lled the gap,” Steele says. “But Krisel, Fickett and a very few others saw it as an opportunity for architecture to solve a social problem. Th ey brought good design to developments.”

Krisel, 87, and his wife, Corrine, still live in the Los Angeles home he designed in 1955. Tens of thousands more Krisel homes can be found around the country. He is best known for Alexander homes, the innovative post-and-beam houses built in Palm Springs, Calif., during the 1950s and ’60s by the Alexander Construction Company.

But Krisel’s infl uence goes far beyond his Alexander fame. By the late 1950s, he and the late Dan Saxon Palmer had formed an architectural partnership and were working for seven of the 10 largest homebuilders in America. Large collections of Kriseldesigned homes were built in San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Florida and Arizona, as well as Palm Springs.

Architect Fickett, who died in 1999, designed so many homes in Los Angeles that historians sometimes called him “the

creator of the San Fernando Valley.”

He won awards for large projects such as the Port of Los Angeles, and he designed mansions for celebrities. But he never received the recognition given other USC-affi liated architects such as Pierre Koenig, A. Quincy Jones and Richard Neutra, partly because he designed tract homes for developers.

Until recently, Krisel shared the same fate.

But over the past 15 years, Krisel-designed Alexander homes have been embraced by preservationists, spawning hundreds of individual renovations, a book, a documentary ÿ lm and two “Alexander Weekend” celebrations in Palm Springs. It isn’t all nostalgia, either. Six brand-new Alexander homes were recently built in Palm Springs, thanks to a Canadian ÿ rm that hired Krisel to update one of his mid-1950s dwellings to today’s building standards.

One of Krisel’s developments, Paradise Palms in Las Vegas, is the subject of upcoming features in both Modernism and Atomic Ranch magazines.

In 2001, the ÿ rst large-scale public recognition of Krisel’s designs, “When Mod Went Mass: A Celebration of Alexander Homes,” was held in Palm Springs. A second Alexander Weekend was held a decade later, and plans are to hold a celebration every 10 years.

In 2008, a retrospective of Krisel’s designs was shown at the Museum of Design, Art and Architecture in Culver City, Calif. Th at same year, artist Michael Stern, curator and writer of a 2008 exhibition and book on architectural photographer Julius Shulman, declared: “What Bill Krisel did was bring Modernism to the masses. Krisel packed excellent architecture into houses of modest size, made of modest materials, and he did it on a very thin dime.”

In 2010, a full-length documentary, William Krisel, Architect, was released. It illustrates how Krisel’s work “has become synonymous with mid-20th-century Southern Californian design,” according to director Jake Gorst. (Th e DVD is available through designonscreen.org) 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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says Palm Springs architecture historian Robert Imber. “He understood that the way to their heart was through their wallet.”

Krisel analyzed every detail of construction and produced ideas that assured creative license for him and made money for the builder by keeping costs down.

“Roof planks became ceilings with exposed beams serving decoratively,” Imber says. “Walls that were merely room dividers or screens allowed in more light while making construction of a full-framed wall unnecessary. Forgoing molding and trim created a contemporary look and saved time and money.”

In Palm Springs last February, during a weekend symposium of the USC Architectural Guild, an alumni group, Krisel gave a tour of a restored Alexander residence, the Menrad House, in the Twin Palms development. In 1957, this 1,600-square-foot,

PHOTOS BY JAMES SCHNEPF

Th e ÿ lm highlights Krisel’s unusual background: Born in China, the son of an American diplomat, he and his family left the country after Japan invaded. Krisel lived in Beverly Hills, Calif., as a teenager. He started at USC in 1941, but after Pearl Harbor enlisted in the Army Reserve, where his Chinese language skills were spotted. He landed on Gen. Joseph Stilwell’s staff as an interpreter, and interacted with world leaders during top-level gatherings.

After returning to USC and graduating with a degree in architecture, Krisel worked in Los Angeles with Paul Laszlo, the infl uential interior and furniture designer. Krisel later joined Victor Gruen Associates, a major planning ÿ rm, before partnering with architect Dan Saxon Palmer.

Th e Krisel documentary has been screened at the Getty Center, at ÿ lm festivals and during Modernism Week in Palm Springs. Th is year at Modernism Week, the ÿ lm audience in the packed ballroom at the Hilton Palm Springs erupted in two standing ovations for Krisel, who answered questions from noted architecture historian Alan Hess.

Krisel told the audience that he ÿ rst developed housing for the masses while at USC. “To me, the smaller the house, the lower the budget, the bigger the challenge,” he said. “I like problem-solving.”

At the time, he said, the American Institute of Architects frowned on mass-produced housing, considering the work “not prestigious enough.”

“But I wanted to do a small house that had the feel of a bigger house,” Krisel said. “I wanted people to walk into a house and say, they build some of them. George Alexan‘How many square feet? 1,500?’ And I’d say, der was hesitant. In an era of ersatz Colo‘No, 900.’ ” Square footage doesn’t matter, nials and shingled ranch homes, Modernism Krisel continued. “Volume and architecture seemed risky. Alexander indulged his son make a space feel like it feels.” by giving him 10 lots in the San Fernando In an interview, Krisel describes USC in Valley, but was certain the project would 1945 as “a very Modern school.” From the fail. Krisel and Palmer proved him wrong, school’s perspective, he recalls, “architecture pioneering effi cient construction techniques began with the Bauhaus, which suited me that allowed the houses to be built economibecause that’s what I liked.” He credits USC cally. Th e development, Corbin Pines, not with teaching him the importance of presenonly sold well but also provided good returns tation. “You can’t sell yourself as an architect to the construction company. unless you can present yourself graphically and creatively, with good [speaking] ability and the knowledge to produce your product.

After the Alexander Company moved from That’s what I was taught, and it worked.”

Los Angeles to Palm Springs in 1955, it It was at USC that Krisel’s Alexander built more than 2,500 Modern homes in partnership began. He became friends the desert — most designed by Krisel. Th ey with Bob Alexander, whose father, George, forever changed the look of the northern owned the homebuilding ÿ rm. Bob showed Coachella Valley.

Krisel’s designs to his father and suggested “Krisel spoke the language of builders,”

PALMER AND KRISEL DRAWINGS COURTESY OF GETTY ARCHIVE

Opposite: Krisel, a still-active architect; his signature patterned brick. Below: Krisel’s sketches of two model homes in Twin Palms Estates.

three-bedroom, two-bath house with a pool and the requisite two palm trees that graced every front lawn in the tract sold for $29,900.

Now fully restored Alexander homes in Twin Palms and elsewhere in the desert sell for up to $900,000.

Unlike the better-known Levittowns in the eastern United States, Alexander tracts were not lined up in cookie-cutter rows.

Krisel varied the exterior elements, adding decorative screen block, ironwork, patterned bricks and applied rock. Although the fl oor plan for each house was identical, his ingenious platting system rotated each house’s location on the lot. Roofl ines alternated between fl at, center or side-vaulted, or butterfl y-shaped. All of this variety meant that no house looked like its neighbor or the one across the street.

Another Krisel hallmark: He always designed more than the actual building. He

created berms, steps, walkways and other hardscaping to balance and enhance his structures. He personally selected all plant material. At USC, Krisel had studied landscape architecture with the legendary Garrett Eckbo. Perhaps the best place to see his marriage of architecture and landscape architecture is the 45-acre Sandpiper project in Palm Desert, Calif., one of the nation’s ÿ rst condominium developments. It has remained largely unaltered, making it one of the largest concentrations of intact midcentury architecture anywhere.

Handling both the architecture and landscape architecture ÿ ts Krisel’s philosophy that an architect should take full responsibility for the total design. “Th e interior and exterior are all really one entity and shouldn’t be done by two different people,” he says.

An excellent artist and draftsman, Krisel has always been a strong proponent of hand-

drawn renderings. Some of his presentation drawings were used for brochures and advertisements for the developments he worked on — another of his full-service talents.

Krisel says he is “totally surprised” by the recent outpouring of admiration for his life’s work. He insists: “I never did it for approval and celebration. I was doing what I liked.”

At the screening of the Krisel documentary in February, historian Alan Hess asked the architect if he could explain why Modern design has fl ourished for more than half a century. Krisel made it clear that Modern design will continue to do so.

“Modernism is not a style, it’s a language,” Krisel declared. “And languages don’t die out; they adapt.” ● If you have questions or comments on this article, go to tfm.usc.edu/mailbag 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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midcentury modernism at usc The post-World War II years were hugely important in the history of the USC School of Architecture, as returning GIs studied under midcentury design luminaries such as Raymond Loewy, Gregory Ain, William Pereira, A. Quincy Jones, Garrett Eckbo, Calvin Straub, Harwell Hamilton Harris, Edward Killingsworth and Whitney Rowland Smith.

“USC became the university of choice for young veterans seeking a career in architecture,” observed the late dean Robert H. Timme in an introduction to a book on Conrad Buff III and Don Hensman, two important Modernists who graduated in the 1950s and returned to teach at USC while also building a thriving practice.

The veterans, many of whom had served in the Far East, came back with an appreciation of Asian design and the way buildings there sought to integrate interiors with their surroundings. The Southern California climate was made for such inside-out living, and USC earned a reputation as an innovator of Modern design.

USC School of Architecture Professor James Steele, who is writing a history of the school, says USC played a critical role in fomenting the international revolution of the architecture curriculum toward Modernism.

“Things that emerged in Los Angeles spread across the country and around the world,” he says. “We were pushing the boundaries of modern architecture in ways that weren’t being investigated in Europe at the time.”

Steele notes the school’s influential faculty included Pierre Koenig, an innovator in prefabricated housing, Ralph Knowles, “who combined architecture and engineering in a way that was far ahead of its time,” and former dean Konrad Wachsman, known for avant-garde structural design.

Students who benefited from their instruction, says Steele, included two future Pritzker Architecture Prize recipients — Frank Gehry ’54 and Thom Mayne ’69. USC is one of only two American schools of architecture with two undergraduate alums who have won the Pritzker Prize, the profession’s highest honor.

Allison Engel is associate director of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities and reports on the arts at USC.

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P H OTO B Y J A M E S S C H N E P F

— ALLISON ENGEL

USC played a critical role in fomenting the international revolution of the architecture curriculum toward Modernism.

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By Lauren Clark

JOHN MORK: A MAN OF ENERGY USC alumnus and benefactor John Mork ’70, MS ’12 built one of America’s top gas and oil companies from scratch. For an encore, he is helping lead a revolution in cheap, clean energy.

IN 1972, JOHN MORK WAS WORKING ON A UNOCAL OFFSHORE OIL RIG IN ALASKA WHEN HE GOT A CALL FROM HIS FATHER.

A wildcatter who had inspired his son to join the oil and gas exploration business, Roy Mork was then based in Gilmer County, W.Va., where natural gas reserves were attracting prospectors. He needed help digging a gas well.

No problem, thought Mork, at the time a freshly minted USC petroleum engineering graduate. “In my mind, it was this little, simple thing,” he recalls. Mork imagined he would help his dad for a few weeks, then head back to his budding career at Unocal.

But the task turned out to be complicated, fraught with technical issues involving a steep learning curve. Weeks turned into months. He ended up quitting Unocal — then one of the nation’s largest petroleum companies — to stay and help his father drill for natural gas. “It was a dream of his,” explains Mork, a member of USC’s Board of Trustees since 2006.

Th e next few years were lean ones. “We had about $50,000 in assets, $100,000 in liability and no cash — I owed everybody money,” Mork chuckles. He and Julie — his new bride, business partner and fellow Southern California native — lived in a trailer.

Th en, in 1976, they dug two productive wells. Mork had a hunch, informed in part by what he’d learned in geology classes at USC, that the patch of land furnishing those two wells had more to off er. He was right. Th ey developed that acreage, called the Northeast Benson Field, sinking an astonishing 200 straight wells without once coming up dry. “It was ridiculous,” Mork says in a slight drawl acquired over subsequent decades of doing business in Appalachia.

Th at was the beginning of Energy Corporation of America (ECA), which today is among the top 50 energy companies in the country. Th e Denver-based corporation has gas- and oildrilling operations in the Gulf Coast, Montana and New Zealand, in addition to West Virginia.

Its president and chief executive has the conÿ dent, easygoing manner of someone long accustomed to risk taking. In the past few years, Mork has positioned ECA at the vanguard of the United States’ natural-gas boom — a development courtesy of technology that can extract gas from places once considered inaccessible. He and other industry leaders believe we are about to enter an era of cheap, plentiful energy that could transform the U.S. economy.

Th e success of ECA has lately enabled Mork to make as big a mark in philanthropy as he has in the energy industry.

“He can be a tough businessman, but he’s got a lot of humanity mixed in there,” says USC Trustee Stanley Gold JD ’67, president and CEO of the investment company Shamrock Holdings, Inc. Th e Morks are among USC’s major benefactors. In 2005, they gave $15 million to name the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the USC Viterbi School

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of Engineering. And in 2010, they made an unprecedented donation of $110 million toward undergraduate scholarships.

Mork Family Scholarships go to academically gifted students in engineering and science, among other ÿ elds — bright young people who Mork believes will make the most of the promising future he envisions. Th at includes people of low income. A number of Mork Family Scholarships are set aside each year for students in the USC Family of Schools in South Los Angeles.

“HE’S A VERY PASSIONATE INDIVIDUAL for things he believes in,” says Daniel Epstein ’62, a fellow USC trustee and the chairman and founder of property management and real estate conglomerate ConAm, speaking of Mork. “He looks to the future — he sees the direction of things, areas where he can have an impact. Th at’s why he set up the scholarships.”

Indeed, when Mork talks about the future, his enthusiasm is infectious, even as he makes startling predictions. Steel mills, fertilizers, chemicals — the very types of energy-intensive businesses that have been largely abandoned this country — are great investments, he says, with a gleam in his eye. “Th ose are going to come back to the United States, because we’ll have this inexpensive energy that’s being accessed from rocks that I was taught as a student were impermeable.”

Th ose formerly impermeable rocks are called shale, and they underlie a huge swath of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and upstate New York across a geological formation known as the Marcellus Shale. ECA has 5,000 wells and holds leases on a million acres in the region. Drillers now can get at the natural gas trapped in the porous shale thanks to improvements in technology developed by Texas oilman George Mitchell in the 1990s.

Th e method sends long segments of pipe horizontally underground like the roots of a tree, so more of the well is in contact with the source rock. A four-acre drilling operation can extract gas out of 600 acres of land, leaving the ground above unperturbed.

With conventional drilling, that same 600 acres would be covered with wells.

“Never in the history of mankind has any resource been harvested with as little intrusion on the environment,” says Mork, an early adopter of the technology. Each year, he notes, ECA plants 5,000 or more trees on or near its drilling locations.

“John was one of the ÿ rst to drill horizontal wells in West Virginia,” says I. L. Morris, president and CEO of Waco Oil and Gas, a leading energy company in West Virginia. “He stayed with it and engineered it. He’s a pioneer here.” Mork hasn’t hoarded his knowledge. ECA-sponsored “shale summits” initiated by Mork’s son, Kyle, the company’s vice president of operations, have helped bring fellow oilmen like Morris and others up to speed on the technology.

Th anks to these collaborative eff orts, the Marcellus Shale “is

John and Julie Mork gave the single largest gift in USC’s history for student scholarships.

Photo by Steve Cohn.

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Young Mork, pictured here at age 5, was a selfdescribed athletic nerd.

“I liked all kinds of sports — and building rockets.”

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“I feel deeply privileged to know the Mork family.”

— USC President C. L. Max Nikias

OPPOSITE PAGE PHOTO COURTESY MORK FAMILY ARCHIVES. THIS PAGE PHOTO BY STEVE COHN

now the biggest-producing ÿ eld in the United States,” Mork says.

With production booming, natural gas has been replacing coal in power plants and driving wholesale electricity prices down.

Burning gas emits half as much carbon dioxide as coal.

“If you simply replaced all the coal with natural gas the world around, you’d meet all of the target carbon numbers [for reducing global warming],” Mork says. But he is most awed at the economic implications of the shale-gas revolution. “I think by the end of this decade, we’ll no longer import liquid hydrocarbons from outside of North America. A third of a trillion dollars [per year] will quit going out of the United States.”

It’s somehow ÿ tting that an optimistic, dynamic man like Mork should have amassed great wealth through energy production.

“John has more energy than ÿ ve people,” says USC Board of Trustees Chairman Edward P. Roski Jr., president and chairman of Majestic Realty Co. and co-owner of the Los Angeles Kings. “He’s an engaging personality, always looking at the positive in anything.”

GROWING UP IN ENCINO, CALIF., Mork was a self-described athletic nerd. “I liked all kinds of sports — and building rockets.” A left-hander who could throw harder than any other kid in Little League, he came to USC to play baseball. Future major leaguers Tom Seaver and Dave Kingman were among his teammates under famed coach Rod Dedeaux. Although Mork quickly realized he’d never play at their level, his experience on the team had a lasting influence.

“I think my dad really inspired him,” says Dedeaux’s daughter, Michele Engemann. A strong advocate for student-athletes making the most of their educational opportunities, Dedeaux drummed into his players “the importance of ÿ nishing school and inspiring others to come to ’SC,” says Engemann, past president of the USC Alumni Association.

Following that advice, Mork considered his career options.

“Remember, this was the mid-’60s — we were going to the moon,” he says. “Everybody was going to be an astronautical engineer.”

Bucking the trend, he decided to pursue petroleum engineering.

“I didn’t want to be inside all the time,” he recalls, laughing.

It was during his transition from Unocal company man to West Virginia wildcatter that he met Julie McAndrews on a blind date in Los Angeles. “I fell wildly in love with her — I told her every lie I could think of to get her to move to West Virginia from Santa Monica,” he jokes.

Julie, who has a bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA, cofounded ECA and helped her husband build it from the ground up. “We were really partners,” Mork says. “I married my best friend and partner, and we just had a wonderful time.”

Besides her role as managing director of the ECA Foundation, which focuses on youth and education, Julie Mork sits on the advisory committee of the Anchor Center for Blind Children in Denver and on the board of directors of College Summit, a nonproÿ t dedicated to increasing college enrollment among lowincome students.

She is also on the board of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC. Father James Heft, USC’s Alton Brooks

Julie and John Mork celebrating the Mork Family Scholars with President C. L. Max Nikias (center).

Professor of Religion and president of the institute, has become close to the Morks. “Th ey really are a team,” he says of the couple, “each bringing special talents to their marriage.”

In addition to their son, Kyle, who earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University and took graduate courses in petroleum engineering at USC Viterbi, the Morks have a daughter, Alison. She received a bachelor’s degree from the USC Marshall School of Business in 2005 and a Master of Arts in teaching from the USC Rossier School of Education in 2010.

She teaches elementary school.

USC Trustee William Siart has known Mork since the early 1990s, when both men were in the Young Presidents Organization, an infl uential network of executives. Back then Siart was head of First Interstate Bancorp. “What struck me about John was how supportive of USC he was,” he says.

Mork credits his experience at USC with helping him develop the backbone he needed to muddle through his early years as a struggling entrepreneur. “What I got out of ’SC was the ability to deal with competition. Th ere was so much competition [at the university] — athletically, academically, socially. I think that still exists at ’SC.” He should know. In addition to being an alumnus and trustee, he is also a recent graduate student, having decided to ÿ nish work he began toward his master’s degree in petroleum engineering in the early 1970s. In May, he marched in the processional at commencement. “I graduated exactly 40 years late,” he quips. “It was great fun to be a student again.”

USC topped off Mork’s master’s degree with honorary doctorates for both him and Julie Mork. What better way to honor two people who have been extraordinary benefactors and continue to play a key role in the revitalization of America’s energy future?

“I feel deeply privileged to know the Mork family,” says USC President C. L. Max Nikias. “Th ey believe that higher education is vital to a robust and democratic society. In their spirit and their actions, they embody the Trojan ideals.” ● 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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Stopping Stroke SHORT

Through its rapid transfer process and hotline, the Keck Medical Center of USC is improving outcomes for stroke patients. by alana klein prisco

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“I keep forgetting that she had a stroke,” Marks says.

“It seems like she is already back to her old self.”

In addition to cutting-edge technology and physician expertise, a recently implemented rapid transfer process played a key role in Bateman’s successful treatment. Th e number of stroke transfers from community hospitals to USC has increased more than fourfold since rapid transfer began in 2010, according to Leslie Tarlow, coordinator of the stroke program at the Keck Medical Center.

USC HAS ALSO IMPLEMENTED a hotline for physicians at community hospitals and other referring facilities, which are often a stroke patient’s ÿ rst point of contact.

Th is hotline provides immediate access to a neurologist at USC for consultation and transfer requests relating to neurological emergencies.

Th e only one of its kind in California, the hotline gives USC an edge over other medical centers that still use a page operator system, which can cause delays in reaching a physician. “We have already cut down the time by which we see patients by one to two hours,” Mack says.

Th e hotline also provides easy access to USC’s multidisciplinary expertise. “An important and unique aspect of the stroke program at Keck/USC is the synergistic and collaborative eff ort between neurosurgery, endovascular neurosurgery, stroke neurology and neurocritical care,” says Steven Giannotta, chairman and professor of neurological surgery at the Keck School.

To increase visibility of the rapid transfer process and hotline, the Keck Medical Center has made outreach a priority. “Outside facilities have been receptive to the idea that we can off er an effi cient and reliable mechanism by which they can refer patients,” says Arun Amar, associate professor and director of endovascular neurosurgery at USC. Gene Sung, chief of the division of stroke and neurocritical care at the Keck Medical Center, added, “We’re interested in helping our partner hospitals deliver the best care for all patients, but especially those cases that are complex and require services that they can’t provide.” ●

PHOTO BY PHILIP CHANNING

O

n Easter Sunday, Elaine Bateman collapsed at her home. She had lost the ability to speak and was unable to control the right side of her body. Her family immediately called 911, and an ambulance took her to a nearby community hospital, where an MRI revealed a blood clot in a vessel in the left side of her brain.

Bateman, 79, had suff ered a severe ischemic stroke caused by an obstruction in an artery to the brain. “We were told the best thing to do was to transport her to USC, where they had the best possible treatment for her,” says her daughter, Jane Marks.

Th e treating physician at the community hospital called a hotline to reach a USC neurologist, who arranged for her transfer. Within 25 minutes of the call, an ambulance came. Bateman arrived 45 minutes later at the Keck Medical Center of USC. “It’s critical that we get stroke patients quickly from point A to point B,” says William Mack, assistant professor of neurological surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “If patients don’t get treatment within the ÿ rst six to eight hours of stroke symptoms, we can’t perform the necessary procedures.”

While in transit to USC, Bateman received an intravenous clot-busting therapy known as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which must Elaine Bateman be administered within three hours of the onset of stroke symptoms. Th e tPA, however, did not dissolve Bateman’s clot.

“She had a lot of neurological deÿ cit, so we determined she would beneÿ t from a new endovascular therapy to remove the clot,” says Ben Emanuel, assistant professor of neurocritical care and stroke at the Keck School. With the help of a new Food and Drug Administration-approved device, USC neurosurgeons treated her successfully.

Th is timely intervention brought a dramatic change in Bateman’s stroke scale. Her stroke went from a score of 19 (severe) on the National Institutes of Health’s stroke scale to a 4 (mild) on the day she was discharged.

[ KECK MEDICAL CENTER OF USC ]

Stroke Prevention at USC

795,000 Americans each year who suffer a new or recurrent stroke — on average, a stroke happens every 40 seconds

Strokes occuring in people under age 65

33 |31 %

million

300

25

%

1

137,000

Keck Medical Center MDs dedicated to the treatment, diagnosis and prevention of stroke

People in the United States who die from stroke every year — that’s about one of every 18 fatalities, making it the fourth leading cause of death

20 Stroke patients rapidly transferred from community hospitals to the Keck Medical Center of USC each year

Along with making advances in stroke treatment, USC now will lead efforts in stroke prevention with its newly established Roxanna Todd Hodges (RTH) Comprehensive Stroke Clinic and transient ischemic attack (TIA) research program.

Commonly known as a “ministroke,” or the temporary disturbance of blood supply to the brain, TIA is an early warning of an impending stroke and often results in a sudden and brief reduction in brain function.

“The best stroke is the one you never have,” says Nerses Sanossian, assistant professor of neurology and neurocritical care at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the clinic’s head. “Our goal is to identify patients who are at high risk for stroke, or who have transient neurological symptoms, to prevent the stroke from occurring in the first place,” he says.

These new clinical and research programs were launched with a $6 million gift from the Roxanna Todd Hodges Foundation. They will provide training, education and support for survivors of stroke and their family members.

STROKE STATS

Brain neurons lost per minute in a typical acute ischemic stroke

15

%

Decline in stroke death rates among males | females (between 1998 and 2008)

Active clinical trials at the Keck Medical Center related to stroke

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association

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Acting FAST Saves Lives Nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year, making stroke the fourth leading cause of death in this country. The good news is that deaths from stroke have declined by almost one-third since 1998, thanks to better medical treatment and better recognition of stroke. The Keck Medical Center of USC plays its part through the rapid transfer of patients from community hospitals to USC. Individuals and their families can take action, too, by recognizing the “F.A.S.T.” warning signs of stroke and taking steps to prevent it in the ÿ rst place.

“The most important thing we can do is to prevent stroke altogether. The second most important thing we can do is to treat it quickly and appropriately.

Education regarding warning signs and risk factors is essential.”

LESLIE J. TARLOW, stroke program coordinator, Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine of USC

For more information or to make an appointment, visit keck.usc.edu/stroke or call (323) 442-7687

“When it comes to stroke, each minute matters — the faster we can get patients through the door, the better their outcome will be.”

Other Stroke Warning Signs ●

Sudden SEVERE HEADACHE with no known cause

●

Sudden trouble SEEING in one or both eyes

●

Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of BALANCE or COORDINATION

WILLIAM MACK, assistant professor of neurological surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC

F A S T

FACE: Look for an uneven smile or a facial droop

ARMS: Watch for numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body

Risk Factors ●

High blood pressure

SPEECH:

●

High cholesterol

Listen for slurred speech, confusion or difficulty speaking to or understanding others

●

Blood clotting disorders

●

Transient ischemic attack (TIA)

TIME:

●

Don’t wait; CALL 9-1-1 IMMEDIATELY! Remember: Time is brain!

Excessive alcohol use

●

Obesity and physical inactivity

●

Irregular heartbeat

●

Carotid artery disease

●

Illicit drug use

●

Tobacco use

●

Heart disease

●

Diabetes

“When we think about what’s in the best interest of our patients, the main thing is intervention. Our partner hospitals know we always have physicians and an open bed available 24/7.”

MAY KIM-TENSER, assistant professor of neurocritical care and stroke, Keck School of Medicine of USC

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THE USC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESENTS

November 9-10 ...together with Homecoming

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40th Reunion

30th Reunion

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Class of 2002 10th Reunion

Reconnect, Rediscover, Reunite Join us to relive Trojan memories, create new ones and support USC with your class, family and friends!

Design your own reunion adventure with one, some or all of the following: 𰃄All reunion cocktail reception and dinner 𰃄 𰃄Class reunion after-party 𰃄 𰃄Activities highlighting the best of USC! 𰃄 𰃄Homecoming festivities 𰃄 𰃄Football (USC vs. Arizona State) 𰃄 For registration and reunion class giving information, visit http://alumni.usc.edu/reunion or call (213) 740-2300.

lifelong and worldwide

family ties

[NEWS FROM THE USC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION]

alumni can continue to grow their personal, social and professional networks, and then hopefully give back to the university by sharing their time, talent and treasure.

The

What does being the first Asian-American president of the USCAA Board of Governors mean to you? I am blessed and thankful for the timing and opportunity to serve as president. Since it was through the APAA that I received my initial chance to volunteer, I owe a debt of gratitude to past Asian alumni leaders who fought for representation and built the APAA platform for me to serve the university. It is a significant milestone, perhaps historic, for the Asian-American community and the USC Asian community, but I am standing on the shoulders of many people who paved the way.

Doctor Is In

A Conversation with Trailblazer Mitchell Lew

P H OTO B Y D I E T M A R Q U I S TO R F

Mitchell Lew ’83, MD ’87 became the first Asian-American president of the USC Alumni Association (USCAA) Board of Governors in May. A longtime volunteer and former president of the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association (APAA), Lew is the CEO of Prospect Medical, a managed health care company with a network of primary care physicians, specialists and affiliated hospitals throughout Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. He spoke with the USCAA’s Timothy O. Knight.

What drew you to the USCAA Board of Governors and what are your priorities as president? I was motivated by the opportunity to be part of an important group of alumni volunteers representing all academic units and affinity groups. I wanted to give back to the university through volunteerism and philanthropy. The USCAA has made significant progress in developing a higher profile at USC by forming partnerships on both campuses and holding successful signature events. We want to continue this momentum through

specific priorities, which include increasing “entry points” for alumni to get engaged, expanding alumni services, developing marketing relationships with key campus partners, and continuing to engage our regional and international alumni clubs.

Why is it important for alumni to stay involved with USC and the Trojan Family?

You are a Trojan for life. The alumni brand and Trojan Family network are well known around the globe. By staying connected and involved,

Since you graduated, what has changed most about USC? Our university has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last 20 years. The enhanced academic reputation, selectivity for undergraduate admission and beautification of both campuses have been the most impressive changes. USC has also extended its global reach, especially in Asia, through our global offices, international alumni clubs, programs abroad and by having the most international students of any American university. And the future looks even brighter! I am excited for our next generation of Trojans.

Your two children are USC students.

What advice did you and your wife, Deena ’85, give them about attending USC? Our daughter, Amanda, will be a senior and our son, Troy, a freshman this fall. We advise our children, “You only attend college once in your life, so take full advantage of everything USC has to offer.” This includes taking classes across different disciplines, studying abroad, internships, serving the community and joining clubs. They will meet many of their lifelong friends while at USC, and the connections made will serve them well in the future.

Since Deena and I met on the steps of Doheny [Memorial] Library, you never know where you might meet your life partner. ●

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Alumni’s Night to

Eight Trojans join the pantheon of USC Alumni Award honorees.

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From left, Scott M. Mory, Lisa Barkett, Sandy Bane and USC President C. L. Max Nikias at the gala dinner

and CEO of Riot Games, one of the world’s leading online gaming companies — admitted that he applied to USC without a high school degree; as a high school junior, he was accepted through the university’s Resident Honors Program. And Alumni Merit Award recipient Th elma Meléndez de Santa Ana PhD ’95, superintendent of the Santa Ana Uniÿ ed School District, expressed her gratitude “for the lasting infl uences USC and the Rossier School of Education have had in [my] life.”

Two other notable Trojans received Alumni Merit Awards: United States Sen. Dean Heller ’85 (R-Nev.) and William Wang ’86, founder and CEO of VIZIO Inc., the nation’s top seller of high-deÿ nition televisions.

Alumni Service Awards, which recognize outstanding volunteer eff orts on behalf of the university, were presented to Richard DeBeikes ’78, university trustee and past president of the USCAA Board of Governors; Kelly Purvis ’82, past president of the Association of Trojan Leagues and the Trojan League Associates of San Diego County; and Jeff rey Smulyan ’69, JD ’72, university trustee and a driving force behind bringing Classical KUSC to the Bay Area.

Th e ceremony concluded with a performance by the USC Trojan Marching Band, joined by the university’s Song Girls and Spirit Leaders under a shower of cardinal and gold confetti — the perfect ending to this year’s celebration of the Trojan Family.

TIMOTHY O. KNIGHT

PHOTO BY STEVE COHN

SPANNING GENERATIONS and transcending cultural and racial diff erences, the special bond between USC alumni and their alma mater was celebrated at the 79th annual USC Alumni Awards on April 28.

Th e evening’s eight honorees were recognized for their achievements and service to the university at the premier annual event of the USC Alumni Association (USCAA).

Lisa Barkett ’81, USCAA Board of Governors president, and Scott M. Mory, USCAA CEO, co-hosted the black-tie dinner, which drew nearly 800 Trojans and friends to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Calling USC alumni “one of the university’s most valuable and visible assets,” Mory thanked the honorees for being “living examples of the limitless potential of each member of the Trojan Family.”

Barkett praised alumni volunteers for “staying engaged, mentoring students and supporting the university’s mission.”

Th ough Trader Joe’s chairman and CEO Dan Bane ’69 was unable to attend, his wife, Sandy, accepted the Asa V. Call Alumni Achievement Award, the university’s highest alumni honor, on his behalf.

Introduced by USC President C. L. Max Nikias, she spoke movingly of her husband’s gratitude for being recognized with the special award. She also shared humorous anecdotes about Bane’s days on the USC baseball team, when he spent more time on the bench than on the ÿ eld. Th e upside to his time on the pine: It gave Bane an opportunity to learn invaluable leadership skills from legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux, who advised his players, “Seek perfection, play your part for the good of the team and have fun!”

Th e other honorees also gave heartfelt speeches. Young Alumni Merit Award recipient Brandon Beck ’04 — co-founder

The Ulloa brothers, from left, Ron, Walter and Roland

robust digital platform. Ron is president of two Los Angeles television stations, KXLA-DT and KVMD-DT. “I can remember USC back in 1971; there weren’t many Latinos,” Roland says. “It’s terrific to see how diverse USC’s student population has become.” The legacy that Roland and his few, but determined, fellow Latino students left behind endures today through support for the USC Latino Alumni Association (LAA).

Ron is a member of the LAA Corporate Advisory Council and, in March, the Ulloa brothers were presenting sponsors of LAA’s 38th annual Scholarship Dinner.

Looking back, Ron, the youngest, found a home away from home at El Centro Chicano — a support and resource center within the division of Student Affairs — and the LAA: “I felt grounded at USC because I was able to surround myself with individuals who looked like me and who valued my heritage.”

The Ulloa brothers remember when the first scholarship dinner raised only $16,000. This year, the LAA raised $900,000, thanks, in part, to the university’s two-to-one matching program. Since its founding in 1973, the LAA has awarded $15 million in scholarships to 7,500 students.

Roland and his brothers support the LAA to honor their father (one of the first Mexican-American certified public accountants in California), and to ensure that current and future generations of Trojans will have the resources and mentoring to excel at USC.

A Tale of Three Brothers The Ulloa brothers share success with new generations of Latino Trojans.

WHEN ROLAND ULLOA ’73 interviewed Cesar Chavez on the radio, he asked the co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association how he felt about leading the Hispanic community.

Chavez said: “We’re all leaders. We all have to lead. We’re not chosen to lead; we have to lead.”

For Roland, whose family came from a small agricultural community in California’s Imperial Valley, those words struck a chord.

His parents always dreamed of him and his two brothers, Walter and Ron, attending USC. The boys did just that, each earning a bachelor’s degree in the 1970s before obtaining law degrees at other institutions and becoming broadcast executives.

Roland practices immigration law and is president of Dos Costas Communications Corporation, which owns several radio stations. Walter is chairman and CEO of Entravision Communications Corporation, which owns 53 television stations (including Univision’s largest television affiliate group), 48 radio stations and a

Twenty Years of Pride

P H OTO S B Y J O S E VA S Q U E Z ; S T E P H E N B L A H A

Lambda LGBT Alumni Association has helped USC become a leader in LGBT support.

IN THE 20 YEARS SINCE the USC Lambda Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Alumni Association received its charter in 1992, the group has grown exponentially. At its inaugural reception, USC Lambda had 65 active members; today, it serves more than 1,500 alumni worldwide.

USC Lambda has played a vital role in making USC a national leader in LGBT support and engagement. In 2007, USC received a five-star rating by the Campus Climate Index for its support of LGBT students, a distinction that continues this year. In 2008, the city of Los Angeles honored USC Lambda for its efforts to enrich the diversity of the Trojan Family at the city’s second

From left, USC Lambda campaign co-chairs Vince Wong ’03 and Amy Ross PhD ’86 with Russell Gamble ’69, who endowed USC Lambda’s first named scholarship

annual LGBT Pride Heritage Month celebration.

Of all of USC Lambda’s accomplishments, members are most proud of its commitment to providing scholarships for LGBT and allied Trojans. Since 1994, the group has awarded more than $300,000 in scholarships to nearly 100

MARY CASTILLO

students. Some of the recipients have become Fortune 500 executives, award-winning film producers and innovative scientists. Another USC Lambda scholarship recipient argued and won a U.S. Supreme Court case in 2011.

“It’s been almost 10 years since I received the USC Lambda Alumni Graduate Role Model Scholarship,” says Mark Spratt MPAMW ’03, a Deloitte Consulting LLP senior manager. “Because of USC Lambda, I’ve developed into a leader who listens, coaches and empowers.”

To commemorate its 20th anniversary, USC Lambda launched a capital campaign to increase the number of scholarships awarded to LGBT and allied students. Its goals are to raise $150,000 toward doubling USC Lambda’s general scholarship endowment and another $100,000 to endow the Albert Brecht Scholarship in Leadership, which honors the legacy of the late USC Gould School of Law associate dean and former USC Lambda president.

TIMOTHY O. KNIGHT

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Alumni SCene

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Trojans reflect, celebrate, learn and transition 1

1. Honoring Our Nisei Trojans

USC awarded honorary degrees to nine former Japanese-American students who were forced to abandon their studies and were interned during World War II. USC’s Nisei (second-generation Japanese-Americans) received their honorary diplomas from USC President C. L. Max Nikias at a special reception following commencement on May 11. Nikias also presented honorary alumni certiÿ cates to representatives of four deceased Nisei Trojans. Special guest George Kakehashi ’42, whose U.S. military service prevented him from walking at the 1942 commencement, also attended.

2. New York Luminaries

On May 21, the USC Alumni Club of New York celebrated the extraordinary contribu-

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tions of Trojans to the Big Apple at its third annual Tommy Awards. Recognized at the ceremony were Tom Deierlein MS ’93, cofounder of the TD Foundation, an organization that helps provide basic living needs, including medical care to needy families and children around the world, and Marilyn Horne ’53, a legendary mezzo-soprano opera singer. USC Th ornton School of Music Dean Robert Cutietta is shown with Horne, the 2003 recipient of the Asa V. Call Alumni Achievement Award, USC’s highest alumni honor.

3. Zoo Story

“USC Dornsife in Your Neighborhood” went into the wild at the Los Angeles Zoo on May 19. Th e popular series is held at cultural landmarks and spotlights faculty

research and joint faculty-student work.

May’s event featured USC Dornsife Professor Craig Stanford (pictured in a black jacket), who presented his extensive research on great apes to nearly 180 attendees. A biological anthropologist, Stanford also led a tour of the zoo’s Campo Gorilla Reserve and Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains habitats.

4. Graduating in Style

On April 26, 1,200 USC seniors marked their transition from students to alumni by enjoying a barbecue and music at the annual Senior SCend Off celebration. Hosted

by Society 53, the USC Alumni Association’s student outreach program, the party took place adjacent to Widney Alumni House. ●

PHOTO BY ALAN MIYATAKE; CHARLIE GROSSO; STEPHEN BLAHA; AMY OPOKA

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JOIN US AT OUR FEATURED

2012-13 EVENTS! FOOTBALL WEEKENDERS October 13 | USC vs. Washington in Seattle October 27 | USC vs. Arizona in Tucson

REUNION WEEKEND / HOMECOMING November 9-10

HALF CENTURY TROJANS GOING BACK TO COLLEGE DAY February 27

USC WOMEN’S CONFERENCE March 8

USC ALUMNI DAY OF SCERVICE

Celebrate the

Trojan Spirit!

March 23

80th ANNUAL USC ALUMNI AWARDS April 27

lifelong and worldwide

For the latest on all our USC Alumni Association events, programs and alumni benefits, visit http://alumni.usc.edu or call (213) 740-2300.

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class notes USC and the Olympics

1940s Carlin Matson DDS ’43 recently celebrated his 100th birthday at Carlsbad by the Sea, the retirement home in Carlsbad, Calif., where he lives with his wife of 69 years, Ruthie Katerndahl.

1950s Anne DeFreece Hopkins ’53 of La Quinta, Calif., is the standards vice president of the Association of Trojan Leagues for the 201112 term. She maintains the standards of the association, organizes and distributes the annual handbooks, and keeps a file of the bylaws and meeting minutes of each league.

Carl Terzian ’57, chairman of the fullservice public relations firm Carl Terzian Associates, is in his 44th year of business.

He lives in Los Angeles.

Tommi Lane Adelizzi ’58 of San Diego is past president of both the Association of Trojan Leagues and the Trojan League of San Diego.

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CLASS NOTES ALSO APPEARS ONLINE. READ NEWS ABOUT EACH GRADUATE AT tfm.usc.edu/classnotes SEND US YOUR NEWS AT classnotes@usc.edu

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1960s JoAnne Nootbaar Rogers ’60 is past president of both the Association of Trojan Leagues and the Trojan League of Orange County, and she is chairman-elect of the Alumnae Coordinating Council. She lives in Newport Beach, Calif.

Richard “Dick” Dodge ’63 of Redwood City, Calif., was elected chairman of the TriMega Purchasing Association, a nonprofit buying group serving office products dealers.

He has owned and operated The Office City for more than three decades.

Dianne Finney Kaub ’65 is the public relations chair for the Association of Trojan Leagues and serves on the boards of the Alumnae Coordinating Council, Trojan League Associates of the Valleys, Keck Hospital of USC Guild and Town and Gown of USC. A Volunteer League of the San Fer-

P H OTO C O U R T E S Y O F U N I V E R S I T Y A R C H I V E S

ALL EYES WERE ON LONDON this summer for the 2012 Olympic Games, but in 1984 it was Los Angeles that captured the world’s attention. And USC was at the center of activity that summer, serving as the site for the swimming and diving competitions as well as hosting the city’s largest Olympic Village. John Argue LLB ’56, founding chairman of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (and later chairman of the USC Board of Trustees), is largely credited with bringing the games to the city. In 1980, the McDonald’s Corporation announced it would build a pool facility on the University Park Campus for the games, and campus beautification efforts began in earnest around that time. In anticipation of the games, USC’s 1983 Homecoming (pictured above), themed “A Salute to USC Olympians,” brought 120 of the university’s Olympic medalists to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. On opening day of the 1984 Olympics, USC welcomed record-breaking crowds to campus. Equally remarkable, the 31 Trojan alumni and students who participated in the games brought home 24 medals. ●

alumni profile ’50

nando Valley member for more than 40 years, she also worked as a librarian and resource coordinator for First Lutheran School in Northridge, Calif., for more than 20 years.

Sara Jane Philippi Bettge ’66, MS ’67 of Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., is co-chair of the Association of Trojan Leagues’ Annual Gathering. She is past president of the Trojan League of South Bay and past chair of the Alumnae Coordinating Council.

Raymond M. Scurfield MSW ’67, DSW ’79, professor emeritus of social work at the University of Southern Mississippi, received the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi chapter of the National Association of Social Workers for his outstanding contributions to social work education, research and veterans services.

1970s Miriam “Mimi” Alton Stermer ’70 is the Association of Trojan Leagues’ representative from the Trojan League Associates of the Desert. She lives in La Quinta, Calif., with her husband, Tom. Keith Oien ’72 of Santa Clarita, Calif., recently published Our Christmas: A Scandinavian-American Christmas/Jül Season in Tradition and Practice. He is also the author of Gudbrandsdalen Tales: Stories from Central Norway.

P H OTO S C O U R T E S Y O F PA U L K A L E M K I A R I A N

Diana Turner ’73 is a realtor at South Bay Brokers in Manhattan Beach, Calif. She is the recruitment co-chair for the Association of Trojan Leagues and serves on the board of USC’s Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

Jackie Lapin ’74 of Westlake Village, Calif., received the award for best spiritual book of the year from the Los Angeles Book Festival and the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award from the North Association of Book Entrepreneurs for her second book, Practical Conscious Creation: Daily Techniques to Manifest Your Desires.

Connie Cashin ’75, MA ’77 is president of the Association of Trojan Leagues for the 2011-13 term.

The Renaissance Pharmacist He may be best known as the founder of the much-imitated Wine of the Month Club, but Paul Kalemkiarian Sr. ’50, MS ’52 is also a successful pharmacist who ran the first drugstore on the USC campus and discovered domestic plant sources of an antidote to nerve gas.

Kalemkiarian, who turns 84 in October, is the son of refugees who fled the Armenian genocide in Turkey early last century. He grew up in Egypt, became fluent in five languages and studied pharmacognosy (the science of plant-based medicine) at Cairo University. Motivated by political unrest in Egypt and encouraged by an aunt who lived in Los Angeles, he came to Southern California in 1949 and pursued both a bachelor’s and a master’s in pharmacy at USC. Kalemkiarian researched two southwestern plants — Datura discolor and Datura meteloides — for his thesis. During those days of the Cold War, he made a hot discovery: Both plants, more commonly known as jimson weed, containe atropine and hyoscyamine, the only known antidotes at the time to deadly nerve gas.

After completing his master’s degree in 1952, he stayed on as a lecturer and was soon chosen to manage USC’s very first pharmacy — or dispensary, as it was then called. USC’s primary reason for establishing the dispensary was to give pharmacy students the opportunity to fulfill their required 1,900 hours of retail pharmacy experience, Kalemkiarian says.

Alvah G. Hall, then dean of the pharmacy school, charged him with opening the dispensary within 90 days. “Within 60 days, I had solicited $18,000 of inventory from pharmaceutical companies at no cost to the university — a very good number in those days,” says Kalemkiarian, adding that managing the pharmacy and training its student workers allowed him to stay on campus and continue teaching.

Kalemkiarian left USC in 1955 to open his own pharmacy and eventually expanded to five before retiring from the business in the early 1980s.

He acknowledges a debt of gratitude to USC and in particular to Hall. “He was a wonderful man and opened many doors for me. I owe a lot to ’SC.” It was in 1957 that Kalemkiarian’s lifelong passion for wine was ignited. He read that, at a state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II, President Eisenhower served a Charles Krug 1953 Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection. Curious, he bought a bottle of the Napa Valley wine — and loved it.

Thereafter, he immersed himself in oenology. “I became a knowledgeable critic of wine,” he says. In 1971, he bought a liquor store next door to his Palos Verdes pharmacy and found himself frequently beckoned by customers seeking advice on wine. But the pharmacist could not be in two places at once. His solution? “I would pick two wines — one red and one white — each month and feature them as having my stamp of approval.” The popularity of his monthly selections inspired him to found the Wine of the Month Club, which he describes as the oldest mail-order wine club in the United States, in 1972. The company, now operated by his son, Paul Kalemkiarian Jr. ’81, is also the administrator of the Trojan Wine Society.

Kalemkiarian is the first of 11 Trojans in his family, but his wife, Rosemarie, is not among them.

“Unfortunately, she’s a Bruin,” he jokes. Miraculously, they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last year.

MARTIN MAZLOOM

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eSCapes: Specialty Travel for Trojans CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF TRAVELING THE WORLD, TROJAN STYLE!

The Kentucky Derby May 2-5

Here are just a few of our exciting trips for next year!

Pearls of Southeast Asia: Hong Kong to Bali

Adriatic Antiquities: Venice to Athens

January 12-28

June 11-24

Jewels of Southeast Asia: Bangkok to Singapore

American Celebration Cruise: Cincinnati to St. Louis

February 1-19

June 25-July 5

Wonders of the Galรกpagos

Arctic Circle in the Wake of the Vikings

February 22-March 2

August 12-24

Exploring Australia and New Zealand April 20-May 10

Symphony on the Blue Danube: Classical Music Cruise September 29-October 11

Villages and Vineyards of Italy June 4-14

Treasures of East Africa October 19-November 2

Destinations, dates, prices and faculty lecturers are subject to change.

TRIPS START AS LOW AS $1,199 PER PERSON! Find out more at http://alumni.usc.edu/travel or by calling (213) 821-6005

Transatlantic Voyage: New York to Southampton May 4-13

Wimbledon June 21-26

A Family Tour of China and the Yangtze River June 25-July 6

National Parks and Lodges of the Old West August 17-26

Albuquerque International Balloon Festival October 4-7

alumni profile ’04

Patricia S. Nagaishi BA ’75, MA ’80 began a two-year term on July 1 as president of the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC). She has worked as an occupational therapy practitioner, consultant and educator, and is currently in schoolbased practice with the Pasadena Unified School District.

Rosemary O’Brien ’76 recently joined Runyon Saltzman & Einhorn Inc., a Sacramento advertising and public relations firm, as its media relations strategist. She previously worked as a public relations consultant for A&E, History Channel, ESPN and others, and spent a decade as an executive in media and talent relations for ABC, Fox Broadcasting, Lifetime Television, MTV Networks and NBC. Robert L. Reiner ’76, MPA ’79 of Greenwich, Conn., is on the board of HuggaMind, a company he helped launch that develops iPhone and iPad applications for infant stimulation and education.

Patti Polin Johnson ’78 is in her second term as president of the Trojan League of South Bay. She lives in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

1980s Michael P. Bishop Sr. ’80 of Long Beach, Calif., was recently promoted to deputy superintendent and chief business official for the Santa Ana (Calif.) Unified School District.

P H OTO B Y C O R E Y M O R G A N

Gerry Barredo ’81 was recently named Citibank’s market president for San Francisco, where he will work with 25 branches in the city. He has been with the company since 2005.

Edward Frank ’81, MBA ’84 of Newbury Park, Calif., is chief financial officer of TWC Aviation Inc., an aircraft management company. He was nominated for the CFO of the Year award by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.

Greg Holford MFA ’82 is the lead director and writer for Paramount Spain. He

Gait Expectations “They’re sitting backwards; they’re on their hands and knees; they’re standing on the horse.

We’re throwing balls back and forth; we’re blowing bubbles; we’re shaking things.”

Cassandra Sanders-Holly DPT ’04 isn’t recounting a Cirque du Soleil spectacle. She’s describing a typical session at Leaps & Bounds Pediatric Therapy, her hippotherapy clinic in Norco, Calif. (leapsandboundspediatricpt.com). The riders are kids with cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, Down syndrome or autism. They ride horses without saddles, stirrups or reins mostly at a walk, but in some cases at a trot or even a lope.

“We have one little boy who drives a motorized wheelchair. He has no independent movement at all. We’ve got 2-year-olds walking with walkers, braces and crutches. It’s pretty powerful to see what these kids can do when they’re up there on the horse,” says Sanders-Holly, an adjunct instructor in USC’s Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy.

Hippotherapy is a treatment that uses the movements of a horse to promote balance and improve gait mechanics. Research shows the biomechanics of a horse’s gait closely mimic those of a human’s walking pattern. Sitting on horseback, the trunk, arms, head and hips experience the same movement as if one were walking.

In a 30-minute hippotherapy session, a rider experiences 2,500 perturbations — unique jolts to which the balance and postural control systems must react. “That’s just impossible to replicate in a clinic,” Sanders-Holly says.

Hippotherapy isn’t new — it’s been around since World War II, when horses were used to rehabilitate wounded veterans. The results are well documented. “It’s the most evidence-based type of treatment in all of pediatric therapy,” Sanders-Holly says. “The demand is huge.”

Unfortunately, not many therapists have the wherewithal to offer it. It takes three people to run a hippotherapy session: A skilled handler leads the horse; a therapist walks alongside, working one-on-one with the patient; and a “sidewalker” serves as spotter. The staffing costs pale, however, next to the cost of operating a professional equestrian facility. Still, Sanders-Holly wanted to try. So four years after finishing her doctorate, she decided to leave her pediatric practice in Orange County and return to her hometown of Norco.

Nicknamed Horsetown USA, Norco is zoned for horses, with trails substituting for sidewalks, public stalls in the parking lots, and hitching posts in front of the bank and grocery stores.

After Sanders-Holly completed hippotherapy training in 2008, the mayor of Norco introduced her to Sharon Smith, who lives on a private ranch with her daughter, a developmentally disabled adult who rides for pleasure. Smith offered Sanders-Holly full use of her facility — gratis — including all 27 horses, five of which are used in hippotherapy. In less than a year, Sanders-Holly’s hippotherapy practice has grown to 30 patients.

On the days when Sanders-Holly comes to USC to teach courses, she and her husband, Greg Holly ’98, make the the two-hour commute together. “It’s a bit of a drive, but it’s my passion,” she says. “I love working with the [doctor of physical therapy] students,” she adds, noting that many drive to Norco to volunteer in hippotherapy sessions. “I’ve got a great life.”

DIANE KRIEGER

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recently won two Gala Awards from Special Events magazine for a production he created for Amway China at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Kelly Gabriel Purvis ’82 completed a two-year term last year as president of the Association of Trojan Leagues. She lives in Coronado, Calif.

David Tice ’82 of Scotch Plains, N.J., was promoted to senior vice president leading the media research practice for Knowledge Networks Inc., a custom market research company.

Kerry Zwart Ball ’83 of Shadow Hills, Calif., was inducted into the Crescento Valley High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

At USC, she competed at the Women’s Collegiate Track and Field Nationals all four years and qualified for the Olympic

Trials in 1976 and 1980.

Steven Travers ’83 of San Anselmo, Calif., appeared on the Writing the Sports Biography speaker panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. His essay detailing the life and career of San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito was published in the March issue of Gentry magazine.

Maureen Kris Halikis ’84 published her second book, America the Beautiful: A Pilgrimage to Becoming American, a memoir about her Greek heritage and her experiences in an immigrant family. She lives in Los Angeles.

Judith E. Deutsch MS ’86, professor of physical therapy at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey’s School of Health Related Professions, was elected a Catherine Worthingham Fellow

of the American Physical Therapy Association. Her practice focuses on neurologic rehabilitation. She is the immediate past editor in chief of the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy.

Joaquin Sedillo ’89 is the cinematographer for the fourth season of the television series Glee. He previously worked as cinematographer for the television series Single Ladies and directed two episodes of the show.

1990s S.I. (Stacie) Strong MPW ’90, an associate professor of law at the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia, Mo., was selected as the 2012-2013 Supreme Court Fellow assigned to the Federal Judi-

A New Home at USC The USC Catholic Community welcomes students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff in celebrating the long-anticipated grand opening of our new Church and Center on December 9.

USC Caruso Catholic Center Now Open for Students To schedule a personal or group “sneak peek”, visit us on Facebook (USC Caruso Catholic Center) or call 213-749-5341.

Save the Date!

Official Grand Opening & Celebration December 9, 2012

844 thirty second street los angeles, california 90007

www.catholictrojan.org

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Pioneer.

Teacher.

Researcher.

Life Changer.

Top Doctor.

Our physicians wear many hats, and they look good in all of them. We salute the nearly 200 Keck Medical Center of USC physicians recognized by their peers as Top Doctors in Pasadena Magazine.

KeckMedicalCenterofUSC.org/TopDoctors To make an appointment with a USC physician, call (800) USC-CARE.

Fight On.

World-class medical care.

Local address.

The University of Southern California’s long tradition of providing exceptional care to residents of Pasadena and neighboring communities continues with the opening of a new medical office: the Keck Medical Center of USC Pasadena.

From cardiology to cancer care, more than 40 USC physician specialists are here in one, convenient location to offer you world-class care.

Visit KeckMedicalCenterofUSC.org/Pasadena or call (626) 568-1622

You can also visit our medical offices in downtown Los Angeles, La CaĂąada Flintridge and Beverly Hills. Call (800) USC-CARE. 48 U S C T R O JA N FA M I LY M AG A Z I N E autumn 2012

cial Center. She will spend her fellowship year in the International Judicial Relations Office.

Kimberly (Robinson) Reiner ’92 of Los Angeles co-wrote the cookbook Sugar, Sugar: Every Recipe Has a Story. After completing a nationwide book tour, she made television appearances on the Today show, Better Mornings Atlanta and others. She is the founder of gourmet fudge company Momma Reiner’s Fudge.

Thomas Kenna MS ’93 of Studio City, Calif., was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is serving his 30th year in the military. He recently graduated from Air Command and Staff College with Maxwell Air Force Base.

Matthew W. Holder ’97, JD ’01 of San

Diego was named a partner at the law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampon LLP. He specializes in civil litigation, as well as labor and employment defense.

Destri Martino ’99 is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker. Her animated short film The Director screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and was selected as one of the 15 top films in the festival’s Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Roger Ebert Center in the American Pavilion.

2000s Adam Christian Clark ’03 directed Caroline and Jackie, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. The film was produced by Adam Hendricks ’03, with cinematography by Christian Swegal ’05.

Jason Del Grande ’03 is director of business development at Ascension Benefits & Insurance Solutions in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Nicholas Robert Buccola MA ’04, PhD ’07 released his first book, The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass: In Pursuit of American Liberty. He is an assistant professor of political science at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore. Ryan Drake ’05 was elected vice president of the Groundwater Resources Association of California, Central Coast Chapter. He is an associate at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in Santa Barbara, Calif., where his practice focuses on water rights.

Melissa Sky-Eagle DMA ’06 was the musical director and arranger of LOVE(SICK), an original performance piece at Los Angeles Valley College in Valley Glen, Calif.

Leadership, Legacy & Scholarship The USC Black Alumni Association proudly continues its mission to support successful outcomes for USC black students through scholarship, mentoring and leadership opportunities by engaging our Trojan Family network.

Learn more online at usc.edu/baa

Black Alumni Association A division of USC Student Affairs

Pictured, bottom right: Rev. Dr. Thomas Kilgore, Jr., founder, USC Black Alumni Association

NETWORKING

MENTORING

“1,000 FOR $1,000” SCHOLARSHIP CAMPAIGN

COMMITTEE SERVICE

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Keith Wasserman ’07 is the founder of real estate investment company Gelt Inc., which owns more than 1,000 apartment units in California and Arizona. He lives in Los Angeles.

Mary Westendorf EdD ’09 recently accepted the position of superintendent of the Fruitvale School District in Bakersÿ eld, Calif.

2010s Monet Christine Bagneris ’10 was crowned Miss Los Angeles County 2012 in the 80th annual Miss Los Angeles County Pageant, the official preliminary competition for the Miss California and Miss America pageants. She also won the Special Achievement Award for the highest ad sales, the Talent Award and the Miss Congeniality Award.

MARRIAGES Margi Blash ’00 and Nicholas Filipovitch ’00 Margarita Aibkhanova ’06 and Sujay Wadher ’06 Graham Hitchcock ’06 and Lauren Labinger ’06

Sharla Wohl-Shim ’96 and Young Shim, a son, Holden James. He joins sister Kaitlyn Noel Carolyn (Bates) Zweber ’96, ME ’97 and Tim Zweber, a daughter, Emily Grace. She joins sister Lauren and brothers Jack and Eric. She is the granddaughter of John Bates PharmD ’60 Almon Deomampo ’98 and Rhonda Wolfe Deomampo ’00, ME ’04, a son, Koa Wolfe.

He joins sister Maia Hope

Keith Wasserman ’07 and Gelena Aleksandrovskaya.

Christopher Thomas Miller ’98, MBA ’06 and Susan Miller, a son, Brendan Christopher. He joins sister Lauren Marie

BIRTHS Julia Mottet ’93 and Claudio Perissinotto, a daughter, Zoë Louise Perissinotto.

She joins sister Lara

Jeanette MacLean DDS ’03 and Tim Budd, a daughter, Sabrina Rose. She joins brother Charlie.

IS

IN THE BAY AREA The new broadcast service of USC in Northern California. More info at kdfc.com.

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in memoriam

ALUMNI

Kenneth Leventhal

Shaun Naidoo DMA ’94, Los Angeles; May 18, at the age of 49

Kenneth Leventhal, a USC trustee, namesake of the USC Elaine and Kenneth Leventhal School of Accounting, and chairman emeritus of the Ernst & Young Kenneth Leventhal Real Estate Group, died May 8 in Los Angeles. He was 90.

A Los Angeles native, Leventhal was a pioneer in the field of accounting. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he attended UCLA on the G.I. Bill. There he met his wife, Elaine Otter Leventhal, who later received her MLA from USC in 1989.

In 1948 he earned his BS in business administration and accounting, and also earned his Certified Public Accountant designation from the State of California. In 1949, the couple launched their accounting business, Kenneth Leventhal & Co., which eventually merged with Ernst & Young in 1995. He taught part time at UCLA until the mid-1970s,

Todd Merrell PhD ’01, Woodinville, Wash.; March 31, at the age of 44

Kathleen Johnson

Edward “Ned” Paul Reilly ’44, Encino, Calif.; Feb. 5, at the age of 89 Marion Vree-Brown ’47, MM ’53, DMA ’75, Northridge, Calif.; April 9, at the age of 91 John Lynch ’56, Huntington Beach, Calif.; April 27, at the age of 87 Melvin Jay Warner MM ’64, Chicago; March 6, at the age of 74 David MacDonald Wilde MBA ’73, Bellevue, Wash.; April 7, at the age of 76

FA C U LT Y, S TA F F & F R I E N D S

Tony Brewer Sylmar, Calif.; July 8, at the age of 50

K AT H L E E N J O H N S O N P H OTO B Y R O G E R S N I D E R

George Frank Ceithaml Dana Point, Calif.; May 24, at the age of 91 Surl Kim Los Angeles; July 18, at the age of 91. ●

››

READ THE OBITUARIES OF THESE MEMBERS OF THE TROJAN FAMILY AT

tfm.usc.edu/memoriam

Kathleen Johnson PharmD ’78, vice dean of clinical affairs and outcomes sciences and chair of the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Economics & Policy at the USC School of Pharmacy, died July 24 in Bordeaux, France, from injuries sustained in a fall.

She was 58.

She joined USC’s faculty in 1984 and assumed the chair of the Titus Family Department in 2006. In 2007, she was awarded the William A. and Josephine A. Heeres Endowed Chair in Community Pharmacy.

A leader in the pharmacy profession, she worked to improve medication use and safety both generally and for vulnerable, uninsured populations, by establishing new clinical pharmacy practices in safety-net clinics through-

when he directed his passion for education to USC. He became a member of the donor financial planning committee for USC’s $309 million Toward Century II fundraising campaign (1976-1981) and then led the Building on Excellence campaign (1993-2002) to a record-breaking $2.85 billion, at the time the largest campaign in the history of higher education. In 1995, he and Elaine bequeathed $15 million to USC’s accounting school, which bears their name.

The couple, who received honorary doctor of humane letters degrees from USC in 2000, augmented their gift with an additional $10 million pledge in 2002. In 2004, Leventhal received the Presidential Medallion, USC’s highest honor. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Elaine; his brother, Henley; his son Robert; his son Ross and daughter-in-law Mary Jo; and his granddaughter, Emma. ●

out Southern California.

She served on the task force of the University of California Office of the President’s California Health Benefits Review Program, the editorial board of The Annals of Pharmacotherapy and the American Pharmacists Association’s medication therapy review advisory panel. Her many accolades include the American Pharmacists Association Pinnacle Award and a $12 million Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation grant.

Prior to USC, she was a pharmacist at California State University, Dominguez Hills Student Health and at Torrance Memorial Hospital.

She is survived by her husband, Wynnsan Moore; children Kimberly and Alex; and parents Keet and Dorothy Johnson. ●

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last word ››

SUBMIT ANSWERS OR VIEW PREVIOUS CONTESTS AT

tfm.usc.edu/lastword

.

PHYSICIAN’S TOOLK T “The synergies between medicine and engineering are natural, multiple and enabling,” says USC Viterbi School of Engineering Dean Yannis C. Yortsos.

“USC has a strong history of medical technology” — from a delivery system that can transport diseasefighting genes within the body, to a prosthetic retina that can restore vision to the blind. See if you can identify these medical devices through history, along with their enterprising inventors and advocates.

1. In 1816, a French physician rolled some papers into a cylinder and thereby revolutionized medicine. His insight led to a medical instrument that remains ubiquitous in the profession.

4. Invented in 1806, this “light guide,” developed by a German physician with an Italian surname, represented the first in a long line of instruments for the examination of body cavities.

7. Taking the same device a step further, this pharmacist-veterinarian-inventor from New Zealand made it disposable – once and for all eliminating the need for sterilization.

2. Political historians remember this Austrian physician as the chronicler of the final days of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. Medical history remembers him as the inventor, in 1881, of this essential tool found in every doctor’s office.

5. The first person to receive an implantable one of these outlived both the device’s inventor and the surgeon who installed it in 1958. The recipient died in 2001, at the age of 86. He was on his 26th implant at the time.

8. The earliest mention of this device is found in an ancient collection of Sanskrit sacred hymns. Specifically, it refers to a warrior queen who, having lost a leg in battle, was fitted with one made of iron.

3. Since Roman times, these devices have been used to control bleeding, especially during amputations. But it was this 19thcentury British doctor – a pioneer of antiseptic surgery – who first used one to create a bloodless operative field.

6. The earliest example of this pump-like medical device dates back to Roman times.

It didn’t achieve maximum utility until the mid-1800s, when three physician-inventors – one Irish, one Scottish and one French – each took a stab at improving it.

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Submit your answers by Oct. 15 online, by mail to Last Word c/o USC Trojan Family Magazine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2818, or by email at magazines@usc.edu.

I L L U S T R AT I O N / V E E R

CONTEST RULES Identify the medical devices and the central players (inventors, doctors, patients) in their evolution, as described in the nine clues. The five best entries will earn $30 gift certificates from Amazon. If more than five perfect entries are received, winners will be drawn by lot. Read each clue carefully.

9. Thanks to this implantable device, more than 30 people who were formerly blind can see. Its inventor is a USC ophthalmologist. ●

Give today.

It doesn’t matter what year you were born or what year you graduated from USC. We all share a love for cardinal and gold.

Participate today. Tat’s how families thrive! https://giveto.usc.edu

the campaign for the University of Southern California FA S R E G N A T R O J A E

Please call or make a gift online: USC Office of Annual Giving (213) 740-7500 Toll Free: 877 GIVE USC https://giveto.usc.edu

USC Trojan Family Magazine University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 90089-2818

non-profit organization u.s. postage paid university of southern california

Change Service Requested

The new name in world-class medicine.

The University of Southern California’s (USC) renowned doctors and nationally ranked hospitals have a new name: Keck Medical Center of USC. Our new name is a symbol of USC’s commitment to change lives through the spark of scientific discovery and the healing power of compassion.

This innovative team includes the newly renamed Keck Hospital of USC (formerly USC University Hospital), USC Norris Cancer Hospital, and 500 faculty physicians of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. The Keck Medical Center of USC brings hope back to health care, connecting patients with some of the brightest medical minds in the country.

KeckMedicalCenterofUSC.org | (800) USC-CARE 1500 San Pablo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033

Fight On.