USC Trojan Family Magazine Autumn 2017

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CA L I F OR N I A SUM M EN R 2017 AUT S U MUM

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F A M I L Y

A P LACE LIKE NO OT HER USC Village unites living and learning and connects the University Park Campus and its neighborhood in new ways.

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scene While no one knows exactly when or where stained glass began to be used in windows, documented examples stretch back to the Romans and 7thcentury Britain. At USC, stained glass abounds, and its history is a bit more certain. The new dining hall at USC Village will feature glass windows that reflect USC’s heritage. Learn more in our feature starting on p. 32.

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Each day at The Kahala we are grateful for the opportunity to make your stay unforgettable. The Spirit of Aloha has never been greater at The Kahala. We can’t wait to share it with you.

Time is precious. Spend it graciously.

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Editor’s Note Friends from freshman year can be friends forever.

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President’s Page USC Village opens as a home away from home for undergraduates.

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Seen and Heard Your take on USC stories from our magazine and the social web.

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News USC is set to generate $80 billion for California in the next decade, the Coliseum embraces recycling, and a USC poet gets creepy.

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Wisdom of Will Will Ferrell ’90 shares lessons and laughs at commencement.

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Next-Generation Nanotechnology

By Candace Pearson A pioneering chemical engineer uses tiny but mighty nanoparticles to battle cancer.

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A Voice for Harmony

By Joanna Clay Choral music moves way beyond the expected thanks to this passionate USC Thornton grad student.

See what’s in store at USC’s new jewel on the north side of the University Park Campus.

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For the Love of Dance When dance brings Glorya Kaufman such joy, there’s no choice but for her to share it with the world. By Lynn Lipinski

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Super Surgeries With technology once unimaginable, these pioneering physicians are taking surgery where it has never gone before. By Koren Wetmore

ILLUSTRATION BY ELLAPHANT IN THE ROOM

49 Alumni News

A network for Trojan entrepreneurs, young alumni build their own career paths and a third-generation Trojan leader makes her mark.

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Class Notes Who’s doing what and where?

66 Now and Again

The USC Fisher Museum of Art houses works from Winslow Homer to Thomas Gainsborough.

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Changing Channels Grounded in classical training, USC’s dramatic arts students take on virtual reality, video games, motion capture and more. By Tim Greiving

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A Place Like No Other Thousands of students have a new place to live and learn—while USC’s neighbors have a nearby place to shop (and get a cup of coffee). Find out everything you need to know about USC Village, the huge new residentialretail project that’s making history. By USC Trojan Family Magazine Staff

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e d i t o r’ s n o t e

First-year students at USC Village’s McCarthy Honors College have wasted no time picking up the traditions of Trojan life.

The quarterly magazine of the University of Southern California E DI TO R-I N- CHI EF

Alicia Di Rado M ANAGI NG E DI TOR

Elisa Huang PRO DUCT I O N M ANAG ER

Mary Modina

First-year Friendships Thirty years ago, I walked into my freshman residence hall excited and curious about what was to come. But I’ll admit, I was also a little homesick and lonely. I’m guessing that many students in their first few weeks at USC have gone through similar emotions as they get their bearings.

These feelings are part of why the residential college system can be such a boon to students. In this issue of USC Trojan Family Magazine, you’ll learn about residential colleges through our 20 pages of coverage on USC Village, the newly opened community where thousands of USC students now live. The complex houses eight new residential colleges—adding to the six already on the University Park Campus. Each offers an identity, focus and activities that unite students and expand their academic, social and cultural experiences.

Friends made in the residential colleges will become future business partners, bridesmaids and best men. They’ll go on epic ski trips to the Sierras and they’ll explore Los Angeles hotspots, led by faculty members who live among them. They’ll go to classes, study, take risks and support each other through first dates and breakups—together.

So the next time you visit the University Park Campus, remember that USC Village is about much more than new buildings. It’s about creating a richer college experience for generations of Trojans to come.

Alicia Di Rado Editor-In-Chief, USC Trojan Family Magazine

I NT E RACT I VE CO NT E NT MANAG ER

Patricia Lapadula STAF F PHOTO GRAP HER

Gus Ruelas

ART DI RE CTO R

Sheharazad P. Fleming DE SI GN AND PRO DUCTION

Julie Savasky

CO NT RI BUTO RS

Andrea Bennett Michael Bulander/ HED Meredith Cruse James Feigert Emily Gersema Judith Lipsett Willy Marsh

Nathan Masters Russ Ono Bee Rarewala/HED Emily Sandoval Adam Smith Mark Rivard Susanica Tam Claude Zachary

PUBLI SHE R

Minne Ho M ARKE T I NG M ANAG ER

Rod Yabut ADVE RT I SI NG I NQ UIRIES

Mali Mochow | mmochow@lamag.com

USC Trojan Family Magazine 3434 S. Grand Ave., CAL 140 Los Angeles, CA 90089-2818 magazines@usc.edu | (213) 740-2684 USC Trojan Family Magazine (ISSN 8750-7927) is published in March, June, October and December by USC University Communications.

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p r e s i d e n t’ s p a g e

Building a Village b y c. l. m a x n i k i a s At the heart of the new USC Village stands a single, grand oak—a tree that, for centuries, has symbolized strength and endurance across cultures. Several months ago, we lowered it into the ground, allowing its roots to find their place long before the first class of 2,500 students moved in to the site’s residential colleges.

As their classes began, the oak sat firmly settled, ready to flourish in the coming decades.

So much about this project relied on forethought.

In conceiving USC Village, we had many goals, but chief among them was our students’ personal growth.

Their time at USC—those years between ages 18 and 22—is profoundly transformative, so we created a world-class living and learning environment, a place that would help them realize their full, extraordinary potential. With USC Village, we made a tremendous investment in student residential life, one that would pay dividends not only for our students’ intellectual, creative and social development, but also for our local communities.

Indeed, USC Village serves our surrounding communities. It provides much-needed retail and dining options, including a Trader Joe’s and Target. It stands as the largest economic development project in the history of south Los Angeles. At the peak of construction, 550 construction workers reported to the site each morning, and most were local; 20 percent lived within five miles of the project, 38 percent lived in the city of Los Angeles, and the vast majority—74 percent—lived within the county.

Who could have imagined the scope of their work?

They laid 1.2 million miles of wires, coursing with electricity and data, and poured 110,000 cubic yards of concrete—more than enough to pave a sidewalk to San Francisco. Their work produced the Central Piazza— three times the size of Hahn Plaza—at the center of USC Village, one that, for generations, will serve as a meeting point in which our students can interact, collaborate and dream.

And this is a dream USC shares with its neighbors. We will forever recall that historic morning when 1,100 community members converged at City Hall to tfm.usc.edu

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voice their support. Many had lived in the area for more than three decades, and they knew that USC Village would bring neighborhood enhancements, as well as jobs and businesses. Their passion—harnessed by our local elected officials—advanced approvals for this project.

We thank them wholeheartedly, and we thank our extraordinary benefactors. Kathleen Leavey McCarthy led the way in naming McCarthy Honors College, along with David Bohnett, Jessie and Charles Cale, Ray and Ghada Irani, and Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky.

They all provided naming gifts for the residential colleges, as did two anonymous donors—one of whom named a residence hall in honor of A.C. Cowlings.

Thanks to these and other benefactors—as well as the dedication of our entire Trojan Family—USC created a home away from home for our students, a community that will prove the value of a campuscentered education. It will surely become the envy of American higher education.

C. L. Max Nikias signs the final beam to be placed in McCarthy Honors College during the building of USC Village.

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Musings about Trojan life and USC Trojan Family Magazine from mail, email and the online world.

Student rooms in USC’s early days were perhaps not so different to those today.

PICTURE PERFECT Keep up with the USC buzz through these Instagram accounts: @uscpres President Nikias shares behind-thescenes pictures and stories from life as a university president. @trojanoutreach Catch up with USC’s studentathletes who proudly give back to the community through the USC Athletics Community Outreach Program.

Welcome to the Neighborhood Décor trends for college rooms like the ones above come and go, but one part of the college experience remains timeless: move-in week. This year, it was even more special for Trojans. USC Village’s opening ceremony brought together thousands of USC’s students, friends and neighbors to celebrate with fireworks, the Trojan Marching Band and the unveiling of the Hecuba statue. The excitement spread quickly on social media as people shared selfies shot at USC Village and posted their enthusiasm for the first Trader Joe’s and Target in the neighborhood. The buzz made #USCVillage one of the top trending Twitter topics in L.A. that day. To see highlights of the festivities, go to bit.ly/USCVillageOpening.

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Follow us @uscedu

Write us 3434 S. Grand Ave. CAL 140 L.A., CA 90089-2818

@uscphotoclub Gorgeous photos of the campus and beyond are posted regularly by USC’s Photography Club. @beau_usc Follow the adventures of Professor Beauregard Tirebiter, USC’s full-time wellness dog.

What’s the Trojan Family talking about? Share your thoughts with us on social media or drop us an email.

M E M O R A BL E M O N O LO GUE Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel stepped away from his usual lighthearted fare on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in May to offer a tearful thanks for the lifesaving work of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Keck Medicine of USC surgeon Vaughn Starnes, Distinguished Professor and H. Russell Smith Foundation Chair for Stem Cell and Cardiovascular Thoracic Research. The emotional video garnered more than 11 million views and received widespread national coverage on ABC News, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and more. Watch the video at bit.ly/KimmelCHLA.

First to Serve

In our Spring 2017 issue, we highlighted USC’s proud legacy with the U.S. military (“A Century of Service,” pg. 42). An alumna who holds the honor of being the university’s first woman to be commissioned in the armed forces sent in a letter with memories and newspaper clippings from her ROTC days. Commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) after graduation (and eventually becoming a first lieutenant), the pioneering Trojan served in Quantico, Virginia; Parris Island, South Carolina; and Camp Pendleton, California.

“There was no provision for women in ROTC back then; I was recruited on campus by the USMC. All the particulars were coordinated between the downtown L.A. USMC recruiting station and the USC ROTC. A couple of weeks after I signed on the dotted line, my mother received a phone call from the recruiting station. The young sergeant asked if my signing was of my own free will. He went on to say they had a rash of fraternity guys signing up their girlfriends.

My mother laughed and asked, ‘How soon can she leave?’

Before graduation on that June day in 1968, the commissioning ceremony was held at the ROTC building and I was one of the four Marines leading the ROTC procession into graduation.”

Gay Dunn Butts ’68

HISTORIC PHOTO COURTESY OF USC UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES; BUTTS PHOTO COURTESY OF GAY DUNN BUTTS

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9/20/17 9:55 PM

TROJAN THE TROJAN WOMEN In the heart of USC Village rises a monument to the women of the Trojan Family: a statue of Hecuba, queen of Troy. Along its base are six reliefs (one seen here) crafted to reflect the ethnic and academic diversity of USC in the 21st century. Read about USC Village—and Hecuba and its sculptor, Christopher Slatoff—starting on p. 32.

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Watch Will Ferrell’s 2017 commencement speech at bit.ly/USCFerrell.

trojan news

The Wisdom of Will The USC alumnus and commencement speaker gave the Class of 2017 insights and laughs.

USC’s 2017 commencement speaker, Will Ferrell ’90, has earned accolades— including the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor—for a career that has spanned television, film, Broadway and the internet. He skyrocketed to fame during a seven-season stint on Saturday Night Live; starred, produced and wrote memorable movies like Elf and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy; and co-created the website Funny Or Die. Perhaps lesser known is Ferrell’s commitment to philanthropy. He is a longtime benefactor of Cancer for College, an organization founded by his USC fraternity brother Craig Pollard ’90 that awards college scholarships to cancer survivors.

During Ferrell’s speech in May—which went viral on social media—the comedian not only kept the audience laughing, but also drew on thoughtful observations from his life as an actor, writer, father and Trojan.

O N FI GHT I N G ON :

TO H IS CRI T I C S:

“I would like to say ‘thank you, graduates’ for that warm welcome. I would also like to apologize to all the parents who are sitting there saying, ‘Will Ferrell? Why Will Ferrell? I hate Will Ferrell.

I hate him. I hate his movies. He’s gross. Although he’s much better looking in person. Has he lost weight?’”

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My fear of failure never approached in magnitude my fear of ‘what if’: What if I never tried at all?

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O N T RY I N G TO P LE A S E E VE RYO NE :

“After my first show [on Saturday Night Live], one review referred to me as ‘the most annoying newcomer of the new cast.’

Someone showed this to me and I promptly put it on the wall of my office, reminding myself that, to some people, I will be annoying. Some people will not think I’m funny. And that’s OK.”

O N L I F E A F T E R C O LLE G E :

“For many of you who maybe don’t have it all figured out, it’s okay. That’s the same chair that I sat in. Enjoy the process of your search without succumbing to the pressure of the result. Trust your gut, keep throwing darts at the dartboard.”

O N T RU E S U C C E S S :

“No matter how cliché it may sound, you will never truly be successful until you learn to give beyond yourself.

Empathy and kindness are the true signs of emotional intelligence. And that’s what Viv [his wife of 16 years] and I try to teach our boys.”

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P R O F I L E

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Going Small to Battle Cancer in Big Ways A chemical engineer and nanotechnology pioneer aims to attack tumors harder (and gentler) than ever.

A sprinter on his college track team, Mark E. Davis knows how to get to the finish line fast.

Now, as a cross-disciplinary researcher, he’s more like a distance runner: “in it for the long haul,” he says.

His quest started in 1995, when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then, Davis has been combining engineering with medicine— developing nanoparticle systems that aim to deliver cancer-killing drugs to tumors.

Davis is now at the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience and on the Health Sciences Campus, stepping into joint appointments as a Provost Professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Keck School of Medicine of USC. He

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also co-directs the Keck School of Medicine’s MD-PhD program.

Writer Candace Pearson talked with the new USC researcher about the future of medicine.

On the convergence of engineering and medicine: Originally, I majored in pre-med and chemical engineering, but gave up the idea of medical school to concentrate on my PhD. So, when I plunged into this problem, I had to teach myself about cancer. From the start, I took an engineering approach. In any engineering problem, you analyze what’s needed by society, then design and build something to meet that need. What’s happening today is that the molecular basis of disease is being unraveled. Everything is accelerating.

The more you can define that

molecular landscape, the more opportunity you have to try to engineer medicine.

deliver RNA to stop a particular gene—something we wanted to happen right away.

On outsmarting cancer: We know that the blood vessels that feed tumors are leaky— unlike other blood vessels in your body. We can make a particle small enough to slip out of those leaky blood vessels and penetrate a cancerous tumor.

But the particle won’t escape normal blood vessels. We effectively change the distribution of the drug away from sites that cause all the side effects and to the tumor.

On what’s ahead: The next challenge for us is to get these nanoparticles into the brain. Our team has succeeded in designing a nanoparticle that crosses the blood-brain barrier in rodents.

We will try to bring this idea into the clinic, probably first to treat brain cancer. Down the road, this has implications for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

On customizing treatments: The side effect profile of nanoparticles is very low, so they can be used to deliver multi-drug combinations without overwhelming the patient.

We designed one nanoparticle to release a drug continuously for more than a week. The patient goes on with their life while the nanoparticle sits inside the tumor, quietly doing its job. We designed another that releases very fast, to

On building bridges at USC: One thing I’m excited about is the chance to bridge campuses and programs, and help people across the university in asking: How do we take an idea and turn it into early clinical trials? Since I have done this several times, I hope to transmit the lessons I have learned to others at USC. However, in science, as in athletics, you can’t win every time. It’s good to stay humble.

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For the Love of Dance With its vaulted, 30-foot-high foyer and ruby-red-accented curved staircase rising dramatically through its center, the USC Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center inspires awe in visitors.

It’s no wonder people are always asking Glorya Kaufman, patron of the USC Kaufman School of Dance, if she feels proud when she steps through the building’s doors. Yet she often shakes her head no.

“What I feel,” Kaufman says, “is love.”

In the hallways and studios of USC’s sixth and newest independent art school, dancers stop in midstep to greet the school’s most visible patron—known by many as the “dancing philanthropist”—warmly, and often with hugs.

“We think of Mrs. K as a mother figure,” says Madison Vomastek, a junior in

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the school’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program.

“She comes to everything and is always open and interested in what we’re doing.”

The affection is mutual. Kaufman calls the school’s students her “kids” and takes personal interest in their successes and setbacks. She often attends their performances, and in a quest to share their mutual passion for the art, she has shaped what students learn and how they learn it.

Vomastek remembers particularly well how Kaufman encouraged her when a back injury sidelined her from performing last year: “She told me to rest up and I’d be back dancing in no time.”

AN ENDURING PASSION Dance is Kaufman’s lifelong love. Before she could even walk, she says, she would

stand on her father’s toes as he moved to music. Later, when she was old enough to date, her criteria for considering a second date with a young man included how well he danced on their first.

Today, she makes dance her philanthropic focus. A native of Detroit who now resides in Los Angeles, she supports the arts through the Glorya Kaufman Dance Foundation. Her donations benefit world-renowned dance and art programs and nurture children through dance at community organizations such as L.A.’s Inner-City Arts, Covenant House California and the Mar Vista Family Center.

She also supports health and education initiatives.

“I invest in things that bring me and others joy,” she says.

PHOTO BY STEVE COHN

USC Trustee Glorya Kaufman sees passion come alive in students.

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Philanthropist Glorya Kaufman dances with renowned choreographer and artistic adviser William Forsythe.

Dance offers her joy on two fronts: the satisfaction of helping young artists like Vomastek achieve their dreams, as well as the pleasure of enabling audience members to forget their worries, at least for a few hours, while absorbed in a performance.

“Dance opens up the world,” she says.

“Art lets us communicate in a way that breaks through barriers.”

HISTORIC GIFT Los Angeles once had no true home for dance, Kaufman wrote in her autobiography, Gloryous Dance Affair.

She made it her mission to build that new home on the University Park Campus.

The USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance is the first new, endowed school established at USC in nearly 40 years. The school welcomed the first class in its BFA program in 2015. With the school now entering its third year, more than 70 talented undergraduates are enrolled as dance majors.

Her gift underpins an endowment that school leaders can use to recruit top faculty and support some of the world’s top dance students through scholarships.

Students in other USC schools also may minor in dance or take elective classes through USC Kaufman.

This open access was critical to Kaufman, a life member of the USC Board of Trustees, who believes in the transformative power of dance. She speaks often about the importance of the arts to higher education, emotional healing and physical health.

“Every aspect of the human condition is affected by the arts,” she says.

Kaufman prefers not to discuss the amount of her 2012 gift to USC, one of the largest in the history of American dance.

“I don’t want people focusing on a price tag,” she says. “I want them to think about what my gift will do for the students who will have wonderful opportunities because of it.”

Opportunities abound for dancers at USC’s new state-of-the-art dance center, perched on the northern side of the University Park Campus. Opened in 2016, it sits directly across Jefferson Boulevard from the main entrance of USC Village, tfm.usc.edu

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the university’s new residential-retail complex that opened in August. It matches the complex’s look through its Collegiate Gothic architectural style. The light-filled building boasts five dance studios, a convertible performance studio and a training and fitness zone.

‘NO PHYSICAL BARRIERS’ Inside the Kaufman International Dance Center, Kaufman’s influence is everywhere.

The Art Deco-style chandeliers lighting the foyer come from Kaufman’s collection.

An oil portrait of the school benefactor, posing in a green evening gown with her dog Troy, hangs in the stairwell. The building’s interior color palette of ruby red and amethyst was chosen by Kaufman.

Crucial to her vision is the building’s free and open interior.

“Dance opens up the world. Art lets us communicate in a way that breaks through barriers. ” “I wanted there to be no physical barriers to what the students could do in this space,” Kaufman says.

During the building’s construction, she scheduled regular walk-throughs to check on progress. She learned the importance of attention to detail—and a familiarity with construction sites—from her late husband, Donald Kaufman, who co-founded the home-building company now called KB Home. His death in a small plane crash in 1984 shattered life as she knew it, and, as she characterizes it, forced her to take a long, hard look at herself. Out of that self-reflection came her focus on philanthropy and on her first love: dance.

Robert Cutietta, dean of the USC Thornton School of Music and USC Kaufman, describes Kaufman’s influence

on the school and its building as profound and focused.

“USC would not have a dance school without her gift,” he says. “We existed for over 130 years without a dance school, then suddenly because of her gift we were able to create one in five.”

While her preferences shaped the building’s interior, Kaufman also respected the input of her academic and dance counterparts, Cutietta and Jodie Gates, the dance school’s director and vice dean.

Working with Kaufman, Cutietta says, has been a “dream relationship.”

The trio worked on a collective vision for the school. Among Cutietta and Gates’ first acts was to hire pioneering choreographer William Forsythe as a faculty member and artistic adviser for the school’s Choreographic Institute.

Forsythe spends several weeks on campus each fall and spring.

THE NEW MOVEMENT The school’s innovative curriculum, dubbed The New Movement, aims to groom the next generation of hybrid artists who are fluent in the techniques of ballet and modern dance, as well as hip-hop, dance management, dance for camera and digital media. The goal of Gates and Forsythe is to change the way dance is taught, emphasizing scholarly studies, work with new media and entrepreneurship.

For junior Vomastek, the school’s diverse coursework has already broadened her ambitions as a professional dancer.

“I’ve realized ballet is not all I want to do now,” she says, citing interests in choreography and film.

Gates sees how Kaufman’s gift and her focus on the student experience are changing dancers’ lives, one by one.

“She’s made a home for their ambitions, one that speaks directly to this generation and beyond,” Gates says. It’s a legacy with lasting, far-reaching and transformative effects on American dance.

Fittingly, transformation is part of the joy of giving for Kaufman.

“Dance is always moving. It’s always changing,” Kaufman says. “That’s why I’m drawn to it.” LYNN LIPINSKI usc trojan family

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trojan news

ECONOMI C INF LUEN CE

Meet the Deans

USC stands as one of California’s top-ranked research universities. It’s also one of the state’s strongest economic engines, according to a recently released report.

USC’s economic impact in the Los Angeles region and California is on course to contribute more than $80 billion to the economy over the next decade. Here are a few of the numbers:

$8 billion in annual economic impact in Los Angeles and California

42,315 jobs in L.A. County

$455 million in tax revenues for local and state government across California

$2 billion in worker wages in L.A. County

$697 billion in sponsored research to fund studies in biotech, public health, biomedical engineering, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease and more

Two of USC’s most acclaimed schools, the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the USC School of Architecture, now have new deans to lead them into the next decade.

Sunday and CNN’s Moneyline News Hour. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

WILLOW BAY USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM After serving as director of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism since 2014, Willow Bay took the helm as dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She holds the Walter H. Annenberg Chair in Communication.

A veteran broadcast journalist and a leader in digital communication, Bay launched the Julie Chen/Leslie Moonves and CBS Media Center in Wallis Annenberg Hall, introduced the school’s new Bachelor of Arts in Journalism degree program, welcomed the first cohort of the school’s nine-month Master of Science in Journalism program, forged partnerships with key media industry partners and created new curriculum and fellowships for master’s students. Bay’s work to ensure that current and future communicators are fluent on many digital platforms was recognized with the Award of Honor from the PEN Center USA. Bay came to USC Annenberg from her post as senior strategic adviser of The Huffington Post and special correspondent and host for Bloomberg TV. Her prominent broadcast experience includes stints as co-anchor of ABC News’ Good Morning America/

MILTON CURRY USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE Architectural designer Milton Curry is at the forefront of disciplinary areas on race, architecture and urbanism that engage with cultural theory and humanities research. Now dean of the USC School of Architecture, he holds the Della and Harry MacDonald Dean’s Chair in Architecture.

Curry founded the academic journal CriticalProductive, which focuses on scholarship and creative work on architecture, urbanism and cultural theory, and co-founded Appendix Journal in the early 1990s. His work includes an invited exhibition project at the Studio Museum in Harlem, speculative large-scale urban real estate and redevelopment work in Oakland, California, and speculative work for Def Jam entertainment company, among others.

Curry comes to USC from the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, where he was associate dean for academic affairs and strategic initiatives. Curry earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University and a master’s in architecture post-professional degree with distinction from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

F O R

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Children come to the University Park Campus on Saturday mornings by the dozens, all in the name of books. Now, thanks to a $1 million gift to USC Kinder 2 College, many more Los Angeles kids will boost their reading skills at the most critical time in their lives.

USC’s Kinder 2 College program helps children ages 5 and up from surrounding neighborhoods become proficient in reading and writing by the end of third grade. The new gift doubles the number of participating children to 200. The funds, provided by philanthropist Pamela Buffett, also will kick off new afterschool sessions in neighborhood elementary schools.

The support is critical to the children’s future, because kids who can’t read proficiently by third grade are more likely to drop out of high school, says Thomas Sayles, USC senior vice president for university relations. “The more children we can reach now, the more students we can ultimately prepare for USC or other top universities.”

LYNN LIPINSKI

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BAY PHOTO BY MAGGIE SMITH TAPLIN; CURRY PHOTO BY TAFARI K. STEVENSON; READING PHOTO BY DAVID SPRAGUE

Veteran leaders take on USC Annenberg and the USC School of Architecture.

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STRONG FAMILY. GOOD BUSINESS. We help you create and preserve wealth in your family business.

At the USC Marshall School of Business, we have the tools to help you create the multi-generational business you desire. Our signature Family Business Program enables all family business stakeholders to build vital skills, activate essential knowledge, and hone core competencies for lasting success.

Come to one of our October and November Workshops!

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“These workshops were immensely helpful in providing ideas & tools to create a lasting family business.”

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9/3/17 6:09 AM

trojan news

What is Zero Waste?

It’s when 90 percent or more of waste materials are diverted from landfills through recycling or composting. (Why not 100 percent? Because some fans bring their own non-compostable products.)

80-100

That’s how many custodial and sustainability staff assist with zero-waste goals at the Coliseum during games.

A G AME P LA N FOR SUSTAINABILITY When fans pack the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, they’re pushing for more than a victory from the USC Trojans or the Los Angeles Rams. They’re also part of a sustainability effort that has helped push the stadium past the “zero waste” goal line. For a stadium with a capacity of more than 90,000, that’s no small feat. The venue now ranks as one of the most sustainable stadiums in the country. See how the stats stack up, at right.

IAN CHAFFEE

24 hours

It takes a full day to process waste from a game—except on weekends when the stadium hosts both the Trojans and Rams.

Then there’s as little as eight hours to clean up between games.

200 tons

It’s how much waste the Coliseum diverted last season—enough to fill nine 53-foot big rigs.

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Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is the largest NFL stadium and second-largest college stadium to achieve zero waste.

Figures of Speech

USC GOU L D SCH OOL OF L AW

USC RO SSI E R SC HOOL OF E D UC AT I ON

“You hit the jackpot….

[I]t’s a perfect time for you to use what you’ve been taught to change this world.”

“Dream boldly. Do not be afraid of the responsibility of making history.”

Xavier Becerra California Attorney General

Allyson Felix ’08 Nine-time Olympic medalist

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wasn’t alone in saluting our graduates. Across campuses and schools, visiting luminaries provided moments of encouragement, caution and inspiration.

US C S C H O O L O F ARC H I T E C T U R E

US C S C H O O L O F C I N E M AT I C A RT S

“There is no straight line between two points, only a circuitous and labyrinthine series of triumphs and failures.”

“Never let your ego get in the way of your future.”

Thom Mayne ’69 Pritzker Prizewinning architect

Ron Meyer NBCUniversal Vice Chairman

KE C K S C H O O L OF MEDICINE O F US C “Science does not end with discovery. We must follow through with delivery.”

Anne Schuchat Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Acting Director

US C SC HOOL OF D R AMATIC ARTS “Listening is an act of liberation that will connect you to the world with compassion.”

Bradley Whitford Actor

COLISEUM PHOTO BY JOHN MCGILLEN/USC ATHLETICS

From actors to architects, USC commencement speakers shared life experiences and lessons with the Class of 2017. Will Ferrell kicked off USC’s last commencement with an unforgettable speech, but he

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S T U D E N T

P R O F I L E

A L E X

B L A K E

ILLUSTRATION BY RODERICK MILLS; PHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONAL CHILDREN’S CHORUS

it was in my friend’s house. The policeman said, “I will wait.”

I went back in and gave him my ID and nothing happened. I was clearly in a predominantly white neighborhood. I don’t know why, but I guess someone must have called and reported that I was there.

As time went on, I felt a composite of emotions, ranging from embarrassment and annoyance to frustration and anger. It was my first personal experience with institutionalized racism, but now with the multiple instances of violent interactions between minorities and the police, I realize that my experience could have been worse. I also realize that we still have a long way to go in terms of interacting as members of a community. This, in part, inspired the mission of Tonality to break down barriers and promote diversity and unity.

How did classical music’s lack of diversity affect you?

There was a moment in college.

I had been studying voice and I saw an African-American singing a Bach cantata. It clicked: “Oh, this world is for me.” That moment made me feel less like the “other” in classical music and more like I belonged. By having an array of cultures represented in Tonality, I hope we can do that for a lot of people.

A Voice for Harmony A USC Thornton student promotes hope and diversity through choral music.

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Alex Blake grew up with music as an integral part of his life.

He was 4 or 5 when he joined his church’s choir. As a teen, he aced the AP Music Theory exam, a course his school didn’t offer and that he didn’t study for.

Today, he’s a doctoral candidate in the USC Thornton School of Music’s choral music program.

He’s also the founder of Tonality, a diverse 25-person choir that aims to connect all people through music. The choir’s performances at St. John’s Cathedral—just a mile from the University Park Campus— touch on issues ranging from

social justice to LBGTQ and immigrant experiences.

USC writer Joanna Clay caught up with Blake to learn more about how he uses music for unity and understanding.

What inspired you to start Tonality? I was asked to teach my choral arrangement at a local high school in North Carolina. I stayed with a friend, and when I went out in the morning to my car, a police officer was there. At the time I was dressed ready to teach in a Wake Forest jacket, vest and tie. I was asked for my ID. I said

What inspires your unique musical programming?

Aside from our goal of diversity within the ensemble, we also look for diverse voices and musical styles to convey common ideals. The first thing we look at is the text, since that is how we express our message. Then, the goal is to find multiple ways to express these messages. For instance, when we can pair an African song with a Buddhist text to express prayer, or text from Anne Frank to Joel Thompson’s piece “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” to convey hope, we start to communicate the human connection we sometimes lose due to the divisions within communities.

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trojan news

Art of Darkness USC poet Anna Journey is unafraid to explore the quirky, creepy, scary and plain old peculiar. (Accessorizing with drumsticks, anyone?)

TATTOOS The Atheist Wore Goat Silk opens with a poem about a barcode tattoo a character gets as a teenage dare. Asking a supermarket worker to scan her adolescent protest against consumerism, she discovers the vertical lines inked onto her forearm correspond to sweet potatoes.

“I’ve always been sweet but slightly / twisted,”

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Journey writes. “I’ve always been waiting to disappear like this, / bite by bite, into someone’s mouth.”

TAXIDERMY The title of An Arrangement of Skin refers to the definition of taxidermy—taxis, an arrangement, and derma, skin—and is a reference to one of the unifying images that echo throughout the book.

“The process of arranging seemed to speak to the art of the storyteller,” Journey says, “while the image of skin suggested a metaphor: for bodies, lovers, family members, the different selves we inhabit in our lives.”

In one essay, Journey compares peeling back the skin of her chosen subject, a starling, to “pushing apart the fuzzy velveteen of a ripe peach.”

Collections by poet Anna Journey (top) include The Atheist Wore Goat Silk and An Arrangement of Skin.

A CORSAGE The dark humor in two poems is devoted to a novelty item Journey saw advertised by a Kentucky florist: a fried chicken prom corsage.

Journey describes how “The golden-breaded / cluster of drumsticks cinched // in their fuschia ribbons and a wrist- // elastic” finally arouses regret for the missed opportunity to wear one. “You want to see the photographs / snapped after midnight when the blond prom dates gnaw / their pink-ribboned corsages to the gristle.”

INSECTS “I’ll often take an odd or peculiar story involving science or animals and braid it with another thread that seems more intimate or personal,” Journey says.

In The Atheist Wore Goat Silk, there is a poem about blue honey, made by French bees who feasted on “the sugared waste // that dripped from an M&M’s factory.”

In another poem, a hairdresser gets a tattoo of a pill bug on her elbow, where she can make it contract and disappear into its protective armadillo-like shell simply by straightening her arm. The ink becomes a symbol of the hairdresser’s reclaimed power. SUSAN BELL

ILLUSTRATION BY JACQUI OAKLEY; PHOTO BY STEPHANIE DIANI; BOOK PHOTOS COURTESY OF USC DORNSIFE COMMUNICATIONS

Anna Journey has always had an interest in dark fairy tales. She’s still fascinated by the stories her mother told her about her own childhood living on the grounds of a Texas mental asylum while her father, a psychiatrist, did his residency.

“Those were the kinds of stories I grew up hearing,” says the award-winning poet, who is an assistant professor of English at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “They seemed normal to me as a child, and I didn’t realize there was anything unusually macabre about them until much later.”

Journey’s third collection of poems, The Atheist Wore Goat Silk, was published in February and brims with tales of insects, taxidermy, graveyards and tattoos.

But taking a walk on the dark side is nothing new for the poet and writer. Journey’s first book of essays, An Arrangement of Skin, features a piece that examines various versions of the “Bluebeard” story, her mother’s favorite tale, about the wealthy man who murdered his wives. In it, Journey pays tribute to her mother’s gift for the grotesque, writing, “There isn’t an anecdote out there too terrifying or gruesome or scandalous…. There isn’t a forbidden door in the castle that she won’t unlock.”

Describing her poems as closer to fiction than autobiography, Journey warns that we shouldn’t take the extraordinary characters and events they describe too literally. “This sense of risk and wonder is what I try to carry into both my poems and essays,” Journey says.

“It’s also what I hope to share in teaching my students— that writing is a continuous process of discovery.”

Here are just a few of the macabre motifs that she explores in her work:

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HEA LT H FILES

trojan news

FRED COOK, DIRECTOR OF THE USC ANNENBERG CENTER FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS AND FORMER CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF GOLIN, A PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY

LONGTIME USC VOLUNTEER ROD NAKAMOTO ’83, MBA ’94 JOINS THE USC BOARD OF TRUSTEES. During his time as president of the USC Alumni Association (USCAA) Board of Governors, Rod Nakamoto ’83, MBA ’94 has helped expand the university’s engagement with alumni across generations and from a broad range of backgrounds. He strived to reach out to young alumni—especially those under age 35. Now he takes his talents to the USC Board of Trustees, where he serves as the newest elected member.

Nakamoto has a personal perspective on the needs of younger members of the Trojan Family. He and his wife, Elsie ’82, are not only USC alumni, but also Trojan parents. Two of the couple’s three children are recent alumni.

Nakamoto has served as a member of the USCAA Board of Governors for seven years; his yearlong term as president concluded in May. He previously led the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association from 2011 to 2013 and was a member of the USC Associates Board of Directors. In recognition of his service to the university, he was honored with USCAA’s President’s Award in 2013 and the Widney Alumni House Award in 2011.

A financial planner, Nakamoto manages his own practice with his longtime business partner and team at Merrill Lynch. In addition to volunteering for USC, Nakamoto gives his time to organizations such as the Boy Scouts—he was an Eagle Scout himself—and he is an avid backpacker who has hiked hundreds of miles in the Sierra Nevada and beyond.

ALICIA DI RADO

A Gift for Business

A trailblazing USC Marshall alumna helps women pursue MBAs. When Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett ’53, MS ’61 was in business school, she was often the only woman in the room.

“But I persevered,” she says.

She also never forgot. After a long and successful career in marketing and a second career as an archaeology professor, Beaudry-Corbett decided to give back: She has made a $4 million gift to the USC Marshall School of Business to fund scholarships for female MBA students who are age 30 and older.

Studies show that MBA programs struggle to attract women, in part because of the age of students who typically pursue the degree. They’re usually in their late 20s or early 30s. Most programs mandate at least several years’ worth of work experience, but that may conflict with some students’ desires to marry and start a family.

After earning her undergraduate degree in business at what was then known as the USC School of Business Administration, Beaudry-Corbett went to Radcliffe College to attend the Harvard-Radcliffe School of Business Administration. She also holds

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a master’s in industrial sociology from USC. She built her career in the then-nascent field of marketing research and rose to chief operating officer at Audience Studies Inc., a marketing and advertising research firm. She later pursued archaeology, earning a doctorate in the field in 1983.

Now retired, Beaudry-Corbett is looking to the future. “I knew I wanted the money I raised through my investments to do some good,” she says. “I decided on philanthropy and supporting the things I’ve enjoyed in my life.” JULIE TILSNER

Vision problems are on the rise in preschool kids. Expect about 220,000 preschoolers to be diagnosed in the next 45 years—a 26 percent increase, say USC Roski Eye Institute researchers.

Astigmatism and nearsightedness are the most common issues.

Eating more bananas, sweet potatoes and other potassium-rich foods may be key to lowering blood pressure, according to a Keck School of Medicine of USC study. The researchers found that the body releases more sodium and water when potassium intake rises, lowering hypertension.

When drowning victims get pulled out of the water, is it better for bystanders to try to resuscitate them, or wait for paramedics? A USC study found that administering CPR immediately could help more rescued victims with cardiac arrest from suffering a coma or dying.

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Pharmacists can help fill gaps in care caused by doctor shortages.

When tested in Bakersfield, California, a program to expand pharmacists’ role in patient care reduced patients’ 30-day and 180-day hospital readmissions by about 30 percent, say USC School of Pharmacy researchers.

NAKAMOTO PHOTO BY STEVE COHN; BEAUDRY-CORBETT PHOTO BY BRIAN MORRI

“I think people today are a little afraid to experiment with their lives because they’re afraid that they’re going to miss out on something or they’re going to step off the perfect path to success. My goal is teach students to be more creative, more courageous and more curious.”

T ROJAN L EAD ER

↑

Q U OTAT I O N

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9/13/17 11:19 PM

THE KECK EFFECT: MORE SWEET MOMENTS As one of the nation’s top academic medical centers, Keck Medicine of USC is leading the way in delivering more medical breakthroughs. Our experts provide health-care excellence through research and clinical trials, while ensuring each patient receives the latest comprehensive, personalized treatments. That’s The Keck Effect — more expertise to get you back to doing what you love, faster.

With locations throughout Southern California, exceptional care is close to you. See how we’re redefining medicine.

Get expert health tips

Text KECK to 313131 tfm.usc.edu

KeckMedicine.org

(800) USC-CARE

© 2017 Keck Medicine of USC

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winter 2016

9/3/17 6:12 AM

trojan health

Super Surgeries Keck Medicine of USC research leads to leaps in innovative care in operating rooms. by koren wetmore il lust rat ions by c hr is gash Do the words “medical research” conjure up a picture of university scientists hovering over test tubes? Maybe you envision clinical trials for new drugs happening in hospitals or doctors’ offices. You may be surprised to learn that at Keck Medicine of USC, doctors are using research to improve standards of care in a different setting: the operating room. USC surgeons are pushing the boundaries of their fields through groundbreaking procedures and scientific studies that could spur better treatments.

Some are pioneering techniques to remove cancer lodged in dangerous places. They’re also testing the use of new medical devices, including robots. Others are exploring the potential of gene therapy to spur the body to heal itself. At the same time, their colleagues are transforming the practice of organ transplantation.

Here’s a glimpse at some of the ways that Keck Medicine’s academic physicians are taking surgery where it has never gone before.

ROBOTIC PRECISION The patient needed help, and soon. A large cancerous tumor was growing from his right kidney upward into his heart. This tumor— what doctors call a stage IV tumor thrombus—traveled from the man’s kidney through his blood vessels. It grew into the inferior vena cava—the largest vein that returns blood to the heart—and then expanded into one of the heart’s main chambers.

Without surgery, the tumor would continue to grow rapidly, and it could break off in the man’s heart or lungs at any time, causing instantaneous death. To remove such tumors, surgeons typically have to open the entire chest and abdomen through a large incision. Patients usually need anywhere from 20 to 40 units of blood during the operation and, even as surgeons work to remove the tumor, tissue fragments might still enter the bloodstream and lodge in the heart or lungs. tfm.usc.edu

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required after open surgery.

With such advantages, Gill hopes other teams will follow USC’s lead in using robotic surgery to remove advanced tumors in other areas of the body. “Our success opens the door for robotic surgery to be used in more advanced interventions for the liver, pancreas, kidney and the chest,” he says. “It’s the kind of futuristic, surgical innovation we’re now doing at Keck Medicine of USC.”

IND ERB IR GIL L

Chair and Distinguished Professor of Urology

JAY L IEB ERMAN

Chair and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

YURI GENYK

Professor of Clinical Surgery

TRANSFORMING TRANSPLANTS If your liver is ever severely damaged by injury or disease, you’ll face a frightening reality: You need a new one, and few are available for transplant.

While waiting for a donor organ, you’ll discover that even if one becomes available, it might be diseased or too old to risk replacing your liver with it. Or, the donor could be located too far from your location for the organ to stay preserved during transport.

In 2016, surgeons performed about 7,500 transplants using livers from deceased donors in the U.S. alone. The same year, nearly 2,700 patients died waiting for one of these organs, according to Keck Medicine surgeon Linda Sher.

USC transplant surgeon Yuri Genyk explains that patients with end-stage kidney disease can be sustained on an artificial device with dialysis, but surgeons don’t have such devices for the liver. “So the shortage of donor livers results in patients dying if the operation is not performed in time,” Genyk says.

When an organ becomes available for a patient on the waiting list, a team is dispatched to evaluate it. If they consider the organ appropriate for transplantation, team members will transport it back to the recipient’s hospital. The liver is preserved in fluid, cooled and placed in an ice chest, where it remains until it’s readied for transplantation.

Unfortunately, organs can only be stored in the cold for so long. They may suffer injury, and doctors can’t predict how well they’ll work after storage.

To decide whether a liver should be transplanted, surgeons look at test results and the donor’s medical history. They also inspect the liver and, if needed, take a biopsy of the organ. Usually, surgeons determine the liver’s viability correctly. But because they don’t have completely reliable criteria, problems can arise: Sometimes a liver doesn’t work and needs to be exchanged urgently, or they use a liver that initially works but later develops problems.

They also may reject a liver that might have worked, but they couldn’t be certain.

Now Keck Medicine surgeons are participating in an investigational clinical trial revolving around a different way to preserve livers. The trial is evaluating a device that uses what’s called normothermic machine perfusion. It circulates oxygenated blood and nutrients through the donor liver and keeps it at a normal body temperature before transplantation. “The [donor] liver is kept in an environment analogous to the human body. We are hopeful that this investigational device may help reduce post-transplant complications,” says Genyk, director of abdominal organ transplantation at Keck Medical Center of USC. Keck Medical Center became the first in the western United States to perform a liver transplant using the device as part of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration study. The clinical trial will

PORTRAIT ILLUSTRATIONS BY MURPHY LIPPINCOTT

Patients have a 1 in 20 chance of dying during the procedure.

Only a handful of medical centers nationwide can do this operation. Recently, a team of surgeons at Keck Medical Center of USC became the first in the world to remove a stage IV kidney cancer thrombus in a new, less invasive way—using robotic surgery, through small openings in the skin.

“Normally, this kind of surgery requires a large open cut from the neck all the way down to the pubic bone. We did it through six keyhole–sized cuts in the belly and one cut in the chest wall,” says Inderbir S. Gill, Distinguished Professor of Urology and executive director of the USC Institute of Urology. Gill led the multidisciplinary surgical team that performed the complex, 10-hour procedure.

The breakthrough surgery took extensive planning, including the creation of 3-D animated maps of the patient’s internal organs to reveal the exact position of the tumor thrombus. It also took precise choreography from surgical experts.

“Days before the surgery, we had two dry-run meetings to plan our strategy. Once in the operating room, everyone knew their role,” says Gill, associate dean for clinical innovation at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Namir Katkhouda, professor of surgery, controlled blood flow to the patient’s liver. Gill used the da Vinci Xi surgical robot to carefully remove the diseased kidney tissue through the keyhole-sized incisions.

Next, cardiac surgeon Mark Cunningham placed the patient on a heart-bypass machine and stopped his heart.

From there, Cunningham and Gill worked simultaneously—Cunningham in the chest and Gill using the robot in the abdomen—to remove the rest of the tumor from the heart and the vena cava.

After ensuring that the entire tumor had been extracted, the two surgeons meticulously closed the incisions, took the patient off bypass and restarted his heart.

The team’s minimally invasive, robotic technique removed the tumor with far less trauma and blood loss (the doctors used only six units) and the patient recovered more quickly than he would have after a traditional open procedure.

The man spent six days in the hospital instead of the two to three weeks typically

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evaluate how well the device preserves organs compared to the current practice of preserving them on ice.

Researchers hope that the device will not only better preserve donor organs, but also may help doctors evaluate their viability.

“The ability to observe certain liver functions while the liver is on the device may in the future help in making the determination if the liver is suitable for transplant,” Sher says.

Using a marginal liver can risk a patient’s life, because if it fails to function properly after transplant, the patient may urgently need another transplant. Experts hope that the ability to assess donor livers may increase the number of organs available for transplantation and decrease the number that are discarded over concerns about their ability to function.

TO BRING BACK BONES When fractures fail to heal, spinal bones need to be fused or a patient loses a great deal of bone in a traumatic injury, a surgeon’s go-to repair option is bone grafting. The procedure involves the transplant of bone, often harvested from the patient’s own pelvis or from a deceased donor. It can be painful and costly, and it doesn’t always work.

“We have cases that require multiple bone graft surgeries, because we are relying on the patient’s body to respond to the biological signals provided by the grafted bone,” says Keck Medicine orthopaedic surgeon Jay R. Lieberman. “If you have to operate on a limb two or three times, the chance of success goes down and the costs go up. Not to mention the discomfort for the patient.”

For Lieberman, chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Keck School of Medicine, there had to be a better way. tfm.usc.edu

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Now, with support from a five-year, $2.2 million National Institutes of Health grant, he is exploring gene therapy as a possible alternative treatment in difficult bone repair cases.

His team will genetically modify human bone marrow cells—extracted from patients undergoing total hip replacement surgery—to overproduce a bone growth factor called bone morphogenetic protein, or BMP. The modified cells will be injected into rats in the lab to see whether they help heal large fractures.

The study will determine the therapy’s potential effectiveness and establish a dosing model that could be scaled up for use in humans and assessed for any problems.

If the cells produce too much BMP, it could lead to excessive bone growth, Lieberman says. He doubts that will be a significant risk, though, since the modified cells should die off quickly, resulting in “two to three months of protein production, not years.”

A critical step toward developing potential human therapies, the study also points to exciting future possibilities involving a combination of gene therapy and tissue engineering.

For example, a scaffold—made from critical elements found in bone like calcium phosphate—could be 3-D printed to match a missing section of bone. The scaffold would then be implanted into the bone defect and loaded with the genetically modified cells. The cells would spur bone growth over the scaffold, eventually filling in the missing bone.

“With 3-D printing, you could take a CT scan of the bone and then produce a scaffold that can fit the bone defect as if doing a jigsaw puzzle,” Lieberman says. “In two or three months you could have new bone—without any graft needed.”

If Lieberman’s study proves successful, his proposed gene therapy could move forward to a Phase I clinical safety trial in humans. But the information he’s gathering now is already informing patient care.

“It’s affected the way I review bone repair problems,” Lieberman says. “That’s the advantage of doing translational research.

It makes you think about multiple treatment options, not just the ones in front of you. As long as you keep your eyes open, opportunities arise to benefit patients.” usc trojan family

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9/3/17 6:13 AM

FAMILIAR FACE S The USC School of Dramatic Arts—formerly the USC School of Theatre—has produced its share of successful actors in Tinseltown and beyond.

BY TIM GREIVING I L LUS T R AT I O N S BY G LU E K I T

Changing Channels

BRIDEL PHOTO BY ELIZABETH BERISTAIN

Acting students prep for careers in virtual reality, video games, motion capture and whatever technology serves up next—with a firm grounding in classical training.

For millennia, actors have been interpreters.

Taking written words off the page, an actor’s art has always been to memorize lines and interpret them for an audience, telling a story with emotion, physicality and truth.

The interpretation might be of a solemn Shakespearean monologue or slapstick for a television sitcom script. Regardless of genre, it’s still all “a vital and essential part of the craft of acting,” says David Bridel, who holds the Braverman Family Dean’s Chair in the USC School of Dramatic Arts. “But the actor is now being asked to also develop their role as an initiator. That’s connected, but it’s also different. And that’s where we’re aiming to get ahead, and forge a new path.”

Today’s actors are expected to be entrepreneurs and creators who can make their own content and tell stories with new technologies. Enterprising actors don’t rely only on an agent and a phone call to gain exposure. They can generate their own buzz by creating original material for YouTube and social media. And the work that pays the bills has expanded beyond film and television into the frontier fields of motion capture (or “mocap”), video games, voice acting, virtual reality... and, once again, YouTube and social media.

With the landscape quickly changing tfm.usc.edu

TFM Autumn 17 6.29_RRD.indd 29

in the industry, it’s no wonder that USC has been pioneering a new teaching approach.

The School of Dramatic Arts’ response, led

by Dean Bridel, is the BFA in Acting for Stage, Screen and New Media program—a redesign of the undergraduate performance degree with a new emphasis on honing skills for untraditional “digital opportunities.” This fall’s inaugural class has entered a four-year program with the same rigorous, conservatory-style regimen as before, but with new offerings such as “Camera and Improvisation” and “Going Viral.”

Bridel thinks back to five years ago, when the school first ventured into new media by opening a voiceover studio, where actors sharpen their vocal chops and learn the unique demands of animation and video game voice work. (“We may have gone into voiceover anticipating the ‘old norms’ of commercials would be the outcome,” he says, “but instead we discovered that the discipline has led us into these new waters.”)

It was right around the time when the film and TV industry shifted their gaze to new media for actors. Noting the explosion of technology in different arenas for acting (particularly mocap), Bridel is determined to keep up with change.

He has already held two new-media summits with industry professionals, and has been trying out some digitally oriented

LEVAR BURTON Best known for his roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation and as host of Reading Rainbow, Burton received his first of three Emmy nominations playing Kunta Kinte in the original Roots miniseries while he was still a USC student.

DANNY STRONG ’96 A regular presence on hit TV series and films—Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Mad Men, Seabiscuit and Lee Daniels’ The Butler to name a few—he also co-created Empire and won a screenwriting Emmy for Game Change.

ERIC STOLTZ The prolific actor in film, TV, and theater has credits that include Some Kind of Wonderful, Pulp Fiction and Jerry Maguire.

FOREST WHITAKER Whitaker won an Oscar for his turn as a tyrant in The Last King of Scotland, and has been a key figure in movies from Platoon through last year’s Arrival and Rogue One. SWOOSIE KURTZ A staple on the small screen since the 1960s, she has notably appeared in series such as Sisters, Pushing Daisies, American Dad! and Mike & Molly.

TROIAN BELLISARIO ’09 She made her film debut at 3 years old and rose to fame in the hit series Pretty Little Liars.

BECK BENNETT ’07 He and USC School of Cinematic Arts alumnus KYLE MOONEY ’07 parlayed a YouTube sketch comedy (Good Neighbor) into starring roles on Saturday Night Live.

DONALD WEBBER ’08 Webber donned the coveted coat of Alexander Hamilton in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway phenomenon Hamilton.

David Bridel aims to give actors the skills to create career paths in a rapidly changing creative world.

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“The skill set that we’re trying to develop is the ability to jump from one platform to the other. But once you’ve landed on whatever platform you’re seeking, then the roots of your training remain the same.” david bridel

A SH OW OF S UPPORT Thanks to Steve Braverman, the USC School of Dramatic Arts has a springboard to grow its programs. He recently gave the largest gift in the history of the school, endowing the Braverman Family Dean’s Chair in honor of the dean, David Bridel.

The endowment will fund the School of Dramatic Arts dean’s position in perpetuity, as well as many of the programs that are key to Bridel’s vision. These include scholarships, faculty development and programs that offer innovative approaches to dramatic arts training.

Braverman currently serves on the School of Dramatic Arts’ board of councilors and has previously served as a USC parent ambassador in the New Jersey, New York and Connecticut area and chair of the USC Parent Leadership Circle Executive Committee.

“Dean Bridel’s ideas to develop cross-discipline partnerships and incorporate more new media opportunities for the students will make this school one of the strongest in the nation,” says Braverman, co-CEO of Pathstone Federal Street, an integrated wealth management organization. “I hope this gift will encourage others to support Dean Bridel’s exciting vision at this critical moment in the school’s growth.”

life is. But c’est la vie, right? Every generation has to bend to a new version of what culture actually is.”

MAKE YOUR OWN BREAKS For incoming students, creating content for YouTube and Snapchat is already familiar ground. Most young actors are quite savvy with ever-evolving technology and are keenly aware that being entrepreneurial is key to fnding work.

“One of my favorite quotes is by Milton Berle,” says Kyle Matthew Weinreb ’17, a recent graduate of the undergraduate acting program. “‘If at frst opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.’”

Weinreb, who goes by the stage name Kyle Matthew, started building doors while he was on campus. As a member of The Suspenders, one of the school’s comedy troupes, he wrote and starred in a popular sketch about a man who communicates with his girlfriend by lip-syncing pop songs. He decided to flm “Lip-Sync Break-Up” and upload it to YouTube, where it’s been viewed more than 67,000 times. (Watch it at bit.ly/LipSyncBreakUp.) He credited the School of Dramatic Arts with creating “a safe space [for students] to learn things through their own experiences” so that they can develop this enterprise mentality.

“One of the most invaluable things that USC’s faculty does,” Weinreb says, “is that they encourage their students to be proactive about their careers.”

Dan Shaner, who teaches “Professional Preparation for Actors” at the school, introduced a course that covers the auditioning process, including casting room and self-taping techniques. The industry veteran—he’s been a casting director for more than 25 years—has seen the shift in the business and notes that today, actors can get work by crafting their own content online.

“It puts the power back into the actor’s hands,” he says. “For so many years it was all about waiting for your agent to call you.

Now people are creating their own opportunities, and material that they’re creating and writing and flming—web series, short flms— they’re turning them into production deals.”

He cites actors Issa Rae (Insecure) and Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), two young performers who turned their own web content into series on HBO and the CW, respectively.

“Actors need to act every day,” Shaner adds. “Just like an athlete trains for a marathon, they need to run every day and train every day. And in the entertainment industry, as an actor, a lot of the time you spend not working. So this is a great stopgap for that as well. …

You’re always, constantly, every day doing something.”

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Pete Ploszek MFA ’12 jumped straight from the acting MFA program into the big leagues of mocap, where data from an actor’s physical performance are digitally rendered onscreen as a non-human character. He gave life to Leonardo, a 7-foot-tall reptilian warrior, in the 2014 live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flm and its 2016 sequel.

“I got the opportunity to act on the frontier of flmmaking,”

30

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BRAVERMAN PHOTO BY STEVE COHN

courses in the school’s broad dramatic arts undergraduate program.

Uncharted waters can, of course, be choppy. USC is one of the frst major universities in the nation to openly embrace new media within its acting program. But Bridel, whose own diverse background includes clowning, directing, performing and playwriting—is unafraid. The Los Angeles Times has described his plays as “inventive” and “vastly challenging,” and he’s never been one to shy away from experimenting.

“This new cultural moment requires a tremendous mental elasticity in order to allow for change to take place,” he says. “I don’t think that affects the young actor very much. I think it affects the teachers and the administrators who are familiar with a different way, who are now being asked to change in order to accommodate the way

autumn 2017

9/13/17 3:47 AM

“As the technology catches up to what cameras can see, you have to give filmmakers and developers as much data as possible,” he says. “If theater training does anything, especially the program at USC, it teaches you to how to use your body as an instrument. And that is called upon in motion capture so much. It’s truly a performance that’s driven from head to toe.”

To be able to offer this committed performance, actors can’t take shortcuts, Negro says. They need classical training.

“A 9-year-old can make a movie on his phone now,” she says. “A 9-year-old can also play by ear on the piano. But unless a rare genius, a 9-year-old can’t play Rachmaninoff ’s Third Piano Concerto with the L.A. Phil. You still have to have a mastery of your instrument, and the instrument for the actor is themselves.”

The new BFA program is simply a bridge between the actor as interpreter and the actor as initiator.

“I think that if we can connect the classical to the contemporary as vividly as I plan,” Bridel says, “then our students will really have the best of both worlds.” • he says. “It was amazing, and I think as they develop the technology and bring the costs of it down further, we’re going to start seeing it more in TV.” Bridel wants the new BFA to give students a head start in these frontiers. He’s partnering with both the USC School of Cinematic Arts and L.A.-based companies like YouTube, Funny or Die and House of Moves, one of the industry’s leading mocap studios, to do so—taking advantage of their unique resources, both human and technological.

But with all this talk of viral videos, virtual reality and web celebrities, is classical stage training still relevant in 2017?

Mary-Joan Negro, head of undergraduate acting in the School of Dramatic Arts, gives an adamant “yes.”

“Without the technique and structure, you cannot access the emotion,” she says. The new BFA will “start the actor off with the realization of how everything in an art form—form being the operative word—is based on structure and craftsmanship, which ultimately releases the actor to be able to access their emotions fully.

No matter what the medium.”

Negro, an associate professor of theatre practice, was part of the first class to graduate from the drama division at Juilliard, a highly classical program that informs her approach to teaching. The fundamentals of acting never change, she explains. Only the frame does.

Bridel agrees.

“The simple fact is that, whether you’re telling it in six seconds through Facebook or Vine (R.I.P.), or whether you’re still telling it through a three-hour Greek tragedy, it is the same mentality, the same respect for narrative, and the same ability to translate narrative into character, circumstance and motive,” he says.

For Ploszek, tapping into his theater training was invaluable to mocap acting. tfm.usc.edu

TFM Autumn 17 6.29_RRD.indd 31

THE P OWER OF STORYTELLI NG While many dramatic arts graduates choose careers on stage and screen, their technical training is also great preparation for a variety of careers beyond acting. Stephen D. Wilson MFA ’89 uses his acting education every day... just not in front of a camera.

Two decades ago, he earned an MFA in acting at USC, learning from such professors as Charles Macaulay and Sharon Carnicke.

In L.A. he also studied with legendary teachers Stella Adler and Joanne Linville, acting alongside then-unknown actors like Mark Ruffalo.

Five years later he reconsidered his career path. Inspired by his grandfather’s experiences as a trial lawyer and judge in West Virginia, Wilson went to law school. Today he’s a trial lawyer in Dallas and east Texas, handling civil litigation cases for businesses.

The most obvious application of his acting degree is in the courtroom, where he narrates stories for judge and jury. His storytelling chops come in handy there—projecting, timing, emoting—but so does his study of scripts.

“In screenwriting, you don’t want to preach the movie’s message into people, you just want to tell a story and tell it so well that they take that message out of it,” he says. “When you’re putting your points across at trial, a lot of times you don’t state the conclusion. You just leave it, and the jury comes to that conclusion on their own. It’s more believable to them if they discover it themselves.”

Wilson only goes in front of a jury about once a year, but he uses his acting muscles every day in other ways.

“The program [at USC] had a valuable approach, which was to teach the actor to disappear,” he explains. “To get himself out of the way so that the character could inhabit him. I think that’s a valuable skill for any business: listening, understanding people’s viewpoints. No better way to understand somebody’s viewpoint than to inhabit it completely.”

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autumn 2017

9/3/17 6:13 AM

Some 1.25 million square feet in size, USC Village is a place where thousands of today’s and tomorrow’s Trojans will get their start as part of the Trojan Family.

a place like no other

USC Village

Celebrated with streamers, fireworks and the Trojan Marching Band’s signature fanfare, a new era for student living and learning has begun at the University Park Campus. More than 2,500 undergraduates today call USC Village their home. But it isn’t just for students. Visitors dine at its restaurants and neighbors buy groceries in its markets, all in a project built on a scale never before seen in South Los Angeles. Now you can take a peek inside USC Village, wherever you are. Just open these pages to see what’s in store.

A Place Like No Other

from

to e about th w o n k o t ted ry. you wan USC histo g in in h t t c y r je e o Ev pr xpansion biggest e

34

Gatefold 8.30-spf-R12-Final JS_RRD.indd 1

usc trojan family

autumn 2017

Once only a bold dream, a new home for Troy has risen and pierced the sky.

Welcome to USC Village.

“In the development we dedicate today, we can witness the echoes of antiquity. We can see the influence of thousands of years of civilization. We can feel the presence of the past, as well as faith in our future.”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELLAPHANIT IN THE ROM

There’s so much to talk about at USC Village—USC’s new $700 million living-learning community that opened in August. Where to start? Maybe with student life—with the Trojan traditions, friendships and startup ideas that can hatch on its living room couches or over pizzas. Or maybe how it has transformed the neighborhood around the University Park Campus.

Better yet: how it ref lects transformations in the university itself. With 1.25 million square feet and eight new residential colleges to cover, USC Trojan Family Magazine presents an insider’s guide to USC Village, from its grand vision to its minute details.

USC Village Revealed

USC P RESI DENT C. L. MAX NI KIAS

Grand opening of USC Village, Aug. 17, 2017

tfm.usc.edu

usc trojan family

33

9/19/17 1:03 AM

Some 1.25 million square feet in size, USC Village is a place where thousands of today’s and tomorrow’s Trojans will get their start as part of the Trojan Family.

a place like no other

USC Village

Celebrated with streamers, fireworks and the Trojan Marching Band’s signature fanfare, a new era for student living and learning has begun at the University Park Campus. More than 2,500 undergraduates today call USC Village their home. But it isn’t just for students. Visitors dine at its restaurants and neighbors buy groceries in its markets, all in a project built on a scale never before seen in South Los Angeles. Now you can take a peek inside USC Village, wherever you are. Just open these pages to see what’s in store.

A Place Like No Other

from

to e about th w o n k o t ted ry. you wan USC histo g in in h t t c y r je e o Ev pr xpansion biggest e

34

Gatefold 8.30-spf-R12-Final JS_RRD.indd 1

usc trojan family

autumn 2017

Once only a bold dream, a new home for Troy has risen and pierced the sky.

Welcome to USC Village.

“In the development we dedicate today, we can witness the echoes of antiquity. We can see the influence of thousands of years of civilization. We can feel the presence of the past, as well as faith in our future.”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELLAPHANIT IN THE ROM

There’s so much to talk about at USC Village—USC’s new $700 million living-learning community that opened in August. Where to start? Maybe with student life—with the Trojan traditions, friendships and startup ideas that can hatch on its living room couches or over pizzas. Or maybe how it has transformed the neighborhood around the University Park Campus.

Better yet: how it ref lects transformations in the university itself. With 1.25 million square feet and eight new residential colleges to cover, USC Trojan Family Magazine presents an insider’s guide to USC Village, from its grand vision to its minute details.

USC Village Revealed

USC P RESI DENT C. L. MAX NI KIAS

Grand opening of USC Village, Aug. 17, 2017

tfm.usc.edu

usc trojan family

33

9/19/17 1:03 AM

Some 1.25 million square feet in size, USC Village is a place where thousands of today’s and tomorrow’s Trojans will get their start as part of the Trojan Family.

a place like no other

USC Village

Celebrated with streamers, fireworks and the Trojan Marching Band’s signature fanfare, a new era for student living and learning has begun at the University Park Campus. More than 2,500 undergraduates today call USC Village their home. But it isn’t just for students. Visitors dine at its restaurants and neighbors buy groceries in its markets, all in a project built on a scale never before seen in South Los Angeles. Now you can take a peek inside USC Village, wherever you are. Just open these pages to see what’s in store.

A Place Like No Other

from

to e about th w o n k o t ted ry. you wan USC histo g in in h t t c y r je e o Ev pr xpansion biggest e

34

Gatefold 8.30-spf-R12-Final JS_RRD.indd 1

usc trojan family

autumn 2017

Once only a bold dream, a new home for Troy has risen and pierced the sky.

Welcome to USC Village.

“In the development we dedicate today, we can witness the echoes of antiquity. We can see the influence of thousands of years of civilization. We can feel the presence of the past, as well as faith in our future.”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELLAPHANIT IN THE ROM

There’s so much to talk about at USC Village—USC’s new $700 million living-learning community that opened in August. Where to start? Maybe with student life—with the Trojan traditions, friendships and startup ideas that can hatch on its living room couches or over pizzas. Or maybe how it has transformed the neighborhood around the University Park Campus.

Better yet: how it ref lects transformations in the university itself. With 1.25 million square feet and eight new residential colleges to cover, USC Trojan Family Magazine presents an insider’s guide to USC Village, from its grand vision to its minute details.

USC Village Revealed

USC P RESI DENT C. L. MAX NI KIAS

Grand opening of USC Village, Aug. 17, 2017

tfm.usc.edu

usc trojan family

33

9/19/17 1:03 AM

3

A Glimpse Inside USC Village 198,000

That’s how many gallons of water the complex’s dry wells can catch and filter during a storm. The water is then allowed to seep into the ground rather than running off into the ocean.

2

Stay Fit at Home

The Clock Tower

4

At about 14 stories tall, the clock tower is the university’s new North Star. The tower and its spire stand atop the Kathleen L. McCarthy Honors College. Insider secret: The tower houses cellular antennas (and no, you can’t go inside it). Rising over the Central Piazza and outdoor dining areas, the clock tower is a nod to the town squares of medieval times.

With the square footage of about six basketball courts, a new fitness center now welcomes USC students. It includes the latest fitness equipment and more than 4,000 square feet dedicated to free weights, as well as space for classes like yoga and spinning.

Hecuba: Queen of Troy The bronze sculpture of Hecuba is the pride of the USC Village piazza.

Sculptor Christopher Slatoff created the statue of the mythical matriarch, which pays tribute to the diversity and strength of USC and the women of Troy. Hecuba, wife of King Priam, passionately defended her family and her beloved city. Her story lives on in classics such as The Odyssey and The Aeneid, as well as Euripides’ timeless tragedies Hecuba and The Trojan Women. In the words of President C. L. Max Nikias, “the majestic presence of Hecuba in the USC Village symbolizes the gender equality in our academic community.”

12

Residential Colleges

13

They’re more than a place to live. They’re where students will discover their academic passions and make friends for life.

USC’s newest residential colleges have been endowed by generous donors to the benefit of generations of students.

5

6

7

Students can work together on projects or just lounge on comfortable outdoor seating.

Overhead lighting gives these areas a welcoming, festive feel at night, while planters, trees and turf contribute to a sense of calm during the day. Each residence hall at USC Village has a courtyard reserved for students.

8

McCarthy Honors College

Cale Residential College

Irani Residential College

Priam Residential College

9

10

11

12

11 3 10

Nemirovsky Residential College

Bohnett Residential College

Cowlings Residential College

Ilium Residential College

Honors Dining Hall

C Mc

T LIN

OC

K

E AV

NU

16

Floor plans

80

Residential lounges

518

Suites with kitchens

663

Total units for students

24%

Increase in beds for undergraduates across all of USC

14

1 Students immerse themselves in the residential college experience at USC Village’s dining hall. Fourteen custommade chandeliers hang overhead, and natural light filters through finely crafted stained glass windows that feature USC academic and residential college symbols rich in tradition. Imagine eating at Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, but with a modern array of food-court dining choices.

Open Spaces and Courtyards

1 14 5

Retail Shops and Dining Along the first floor of the complex, shops offer everything from bikes to eyeglasses. And if you’re feeling hungry after a football game, stop by to eat. Dining options include spots owned by alumni, like The Baked Bear ice cream—from NFL stars Ryan ’07 and Matt Kalil ’12—and Rance’s Chicago Pizza, co-founded by Aaron Tofani MRED ’11.

E 4

13

9

15

16

Bike Garages

Student Rooms and Suites

Each residential building has its own expansive room where students can park their bicycles and secure them. Students are assigned their own dedicated space on a two-level rack. The largest garage has a capacity of 500 bikes. In all, nearly 1,300 bikes can be stored indoors at the site.

Freshmen at USC Village live in suites accommodating two to eight students.

Upperclassmen suites fit two to six students, and have kitchens. All have bathrooms within the suites. Each living space comes with durable furniture, built-in Wi-Fi and hookups for wall-mounted flat-screen TVs, and every residence hall has its own unique spectrum of colors for tile, walls, carpet and furnishings.

17 7

8

6 15

2

16

HO

OV

390 ER

ST

RE

Approximate number of trees growing onsite

ET

17

JE F FERSON BO ULEVARD

Gatefold 8.30-spf-R12-Final JS_RRD.indd 2

9/19/17 1:04 AM

3

A Glimpse Inside USC Village 198,000

That’s how many gallons of water the complex’s dry wells can catch and filter during a storm. The water is then allowed to seep into the ground rather than running off into the ocean.

2

Stay Fit at Home

The Clock Tower

4

At about 14 stories tall, the clock tower is the university’s new North Star. The tower and its spire stand atop the Kathleen L. McCarthy Honors College. Insider secret: The tower houses cellular antennas (and no, you can’t go inside it). Rising over the Central Piazza and outdoor dining areas, the clock tower is a nod to the town squares of medieval times.

With the square footage of about six basketball courts, a new fitness center now welcomes USC students. It includes the latest fitness equipment and more than 4,000 square feet dedicated to free weights, as well as space for classes like yoga and spinning.

Hecuba: Queen of Troy The bronze sculpture of Hecuba is the pride of the USC Village piazza.

Sculptor Christopher Slatoff created the statue of the mythical matriarch, which pays tribute to the diversity and strength of USC and the women of Troy. Hecuba, wife of King Priam, passionately defended her family and her beloved city. Her story lives on in classics such as The Odyssey and The Aeneid, as well as Euripides’ timeless tragedies Hecuba and The Trojan Women. In the words of President C. L. Max Nikias, “the majestic presence of Hecuba in the USC Village symbolizes the gender equality in our academic community.”

12

Residential Colleges

13

They’re more than a place to live. They’re where students will discover their academic passions and make friends for life.

USC’s newest residential colleges have been endowed by generous donors to the benefit of generations of students.

5

6

7

Students can work together on projects or just lounge on comfortable outdoor seating.

Overhead lighting gives these areas a welcoming, festive feel at night, while planters, trees and turf contribute to a sense of calm during the day. Each residence hall at USC Village has a courtyard reserved for students.

8

McCarthy Honors College

Cale Residential College

Irani Residential College

Priam Residential College

9

10

11

12

11 3 10

Nemirovsky Residential College

Bohnett Residential College

Cowlings Residential College

Ilium Residential College

Honors Dining Hall

C Mc

T LIN

OC

K

E AV

NU

16

Floor plans

80

Residential lounges

518

Suites with kitchens

663

Total units for students

24%

Increase in beds for undergraduates across all of USC

14

1 Students immerse themselves in the residential college experience at USC Village’s dining hall. Fourteen custommade chandeliers hang overhead, and natural light filters through finely crafted stained glass windows that feature USC academic and residential college symbols rich in tradition. Imagine eating at Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, but with a modern array of food-court dining choices.

Open Spaces and Courtyards

1 14 5

Retail Shops and Dining Along the first floor of the complex, shops offer everything from bikes to eyeglasses. And if you’re feeling hungry after a football game, stop by to eat. Dining options include spots owned by alumni, like The Baked Bear ice cream—from NFL stars Ryan ’07 and Matt Kalil ’12—and Rance’s Chicago Pizza, co-founded by Aaron Tofani MRED ’11.

E 4

13

9

15

16

Bike Garages

Student Rooms and Suites

Each residential building has its own expansive room where students can park their bicycles and secure them. Students are assigned their own dedicated space on a two-level rack. The largest garage has a capacity of 500 bikes. In all, nearly 1,300 bikes can be stored indoors at the site.

Freshmen at USC Village live in suites accommodating two to eight students.

Upperclassmen suites fit two to six students, and have kitchens. All have bathrooms within the suites. Each living space comes with durable furniture, built-in Wi-Fi and hookups for wall-mounted flat-screen TVs, and every residence hall has its own unique spectrum of colors for tile, walls, carpet and furnishings.

17 7

8

6 15

2

16

HO

OV

390 ER

ST

RE

Approximate number of trees growing onsite

ET

17

JE F FERSON BO ULEVARD

Gatefold 8.30-spf-R12-Final JS_RRD.indd 2

9/19/17 1:04 AM

Some 1.25 million square feet in size, USC Village is a place where thousands of today’s and tomorrow’s Trojans will get their start as part of the Trojan Family.

a place like no other

USC Village

Celebrated with streamers, fireworks and the Trojan Marching Band’s signature fanfare, a new era for student living and learning has begun at the University Park Campus. More than 2,500 undergraduates today call USC Village their home. But it isn’t just for students. Visitors dine at its restaurants and neighbors buy groceries in its markets, all in a project built on a scale never before seen in South Los Angeles. Now you can take a peek inside USC Village, wherever you are. Just open these pages to see what’s in store.

A Place Like No Other

from

to e about th w o n k o t ted ry. you wan USC histo g in in h t t c y r je e o Ev pr xpansion biggest e

34

Gatefold 8.30-spf-R12-Final JS_RRD.indd 1

usc trojan family

autumn 2017

Once only a bold dream, a new home for Troy has risen and pierced the sky.

Welcome to USC Village.

“In the development we dedicate today, we can witness the echoes of antiquity. We can see the influence of thousands of years of civilization. We can feel the presence of the past, as well as faith in our future.”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELLAPHANIT IN THE ROM

There’s so much to talk about at USC Village—USC’s new $700 million living-learning community that opened in August. Where to start? Maybe with student life—with the Trojan traditions, friendships and startup ideas that can hatch on its living room couches or over pizzas. Or maybe how it has transformed the neighborhood around the University Park Campus.

Better yet: how it ref lects transformations in the university itself. With 1.25 million square feet and eight new residential colleges to cover, USC Trojan Family Magazine presents an insider’s guide to USC Village, from its grand vision to its minute details.

USC Village Revealed

USC P RESI DENT C. L. MAX NI KIAS

Grand opening of USC Village, Aug. 17, 2017

tfm.usc.edu

usc trojan family

33

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ARCHITECTURE It took three years for USC Village’s buildings to rise, but the inspiration behind their exteriors goes back centuries. The project reflects Collegiate Gothic architecture, which includes elements of English Tudor design.

With a nod to the centuries-old, ivy-covered university campuses of Oxford and Cambridge, USC Village’s architectural flourishes evoke a sense of antiquity and grandeur, but the buildings are firmly grounded in the modern world with the latest technology and amenities. Recessed, arched entryways are set off with decorative stone carvings and moldings. Paned windows abound, many with tracery featuring geometric patterns. Red-brick and cream-colored masonry ties USC Village visually to the rest of the University Park Campus. Gothic arches and carved finials point toward the crowns of the 70-foot-tall buildings, while the McCarthy Honors College clock tower rises over the Central Piazza below, which includes Fubon Fountain and the Hecuba statue. Detailed but not overly ornate or fussy, the building facades honor academia, reflecting President C. L. Max Nikias’ vision for “the best and most timeless kind of human community.”

B I CYC L E S Bikes are a common sight on the University Park Campus, and at USC Village, no student’s bike has to spend the night outdoors. No students have to climb over bikes stashed in their rooms, either, thanks to bicycle garages built into the complex.

• Each residential building has an indoor bike garage at ground level.

• Garages can hold 1,272 bikes in all.

• Double-stacked racks allow for bikes to be lifted easily and locked away.

• Tire pumps and repair stations are plentiful.

• 224 outdoor bike slots are available for visitors.

• Without a bike? Students can buy one at the new Solé Bicycles shop onsite.

CONSTRUCTION Before USC Village opened, it was already changing lives.

“It’s always going to be here, and I can say I was part of it,” says Marcellous Bell, a carpenter who started working at the site in January 2016 and is one of thousands of local workers who built the complex. Five years ago, he couldn’t have imagined being part of such an enormous project. Back then, he was on a different path. The talented high school football player had drifted into petty theft and fighting, and was once shot in the back. But he found support from a community group that helped him turn his life around and find a job at USC Village. “I did a full 180. I’ve learned stuff here I didn’t even know I could do,” Bell says. With the project completed, he’s proud of his work. Says Bell: “Someday I can say, ‘I helped put a roof over your head.’”

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different floor plans make the most of each living space.

>12,000

pieces of residential furniture fill USC’s residence halls. Most suites have rooms with coffee tables, couches and chairs where students can relax and study together.

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student lounges are found throughout the eight residential colleges, ranging from floor-level lobbies to upstairs study rooms.

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Designers drew on colors and textures inspired by Italian landscapes when they created USC Village’s interiors. Each building has its own unique color palette, with fabrics and furnishings to match.

Students’ rooms were designed with their needs in mind.

First-year students new to college life live in settings that help them get to know each other, while upperclassmen have suites that share a common kitchen.

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E AT E R I E S Hungry? More than a dozen restaurants are open to the public at USC Village, with more to come. And of course, there’s always fresh and affordable fare at the Honors Dining Hall at McCarthy Honors College. Like all universityrun restaurants, it receives a steady supply of herbs and leafy greens from USC’s own aeroponic vegetable garden.

USC Village’s new public offerings include healthful eating spots like Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop and SunLife Organics; coffee purveyors Starbucks and Butcher, Baker, Cappuccino Maker; ice cream sandwich hotspot The Baked Bear; and plenty of restaurants dishing up Vietnamese, Italian, Mediterranean and Mexican food.

“We’re creating that experiential space where students can bump into professors, faculty and staff,” says Laurie Stone, associate senior vice president of university real estate and asset management. “Sharing coffee, breaking bread, talking about what you’re working on—that kind of idea creation allows for interdisciplinary activity.”

Several of the businesses are run by alumni. Aaron Tofani ’11 co-founded Rance’s Pizzeria, which offers Chicago-style deep-dish pizza onsite. “I want to see big groups of students talking over pizza,” Tofani says. “We also want the indoor and outdoor spaces to blend together to get that Southern California feeling.”

Nearby is Trejo’s Tacos. Its menu features vegan dishes like tacos made with Asian jackfruit. Vouches co-founder Jeff Georgino ’89: “The texture is like pulled pork.”

And, yes—they’ll be open for business during football season.

DESIGN More than 12,000 pieces of residential furniture fill USC Village’s residence halls: dressers, beds, desks, tables, chairs and couches. Most were made with some recycled material, and all were chosen for durability, simplicity and style after extensive testing. (Just one example: Staff sifted through a dozen models of desk chairs before picking one.)

Mattresses made at a nearby factory in Montebello give Trojans the best of both worlds. Too firm?

Flip it over to choose its softer side.

There are 80 student lounges throughout USC Village, and two-thirds are outfitted with audiovisual equipment for sharing presentations or watching TV. The rest were designed for quiet group study and relaxation.

The lobbies and lounges feature a signature color scheme unique to each building.

“We tried to pick out flexible, modern furniture that incorporated colors from the building into each lounge,” interior designer Jan Edson says.

“The color scheme for each building is based on landscapes, and you’ll see that echoed as you walk through the residential life lounges.”

Designers also made sure that windows were built throughout to provide plenty of natural light in bedrooms and lounges. Residents enjoy sweeping views of USC Village buildings, the busy paseos below and even downtown L.A.

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FA C U LT Y I N RESIDENCE Thousands of undergraduates now live at USC Village. So do six faculty members.

Known as faculty in residence, these professors reinforce the special elements of USC’s residential college system. They share meals with students and plan events and trips, helping students build bonds with each other inside and outside the classroom.

Faculty in residence are spread across USC’s undergraduate housing, but USC Village has a half-dozen professors all to itself: Laura Baker, Ruth Chung, Broderick Leaks, John Pascarella, Neelesh Tiruviluamala and Trisha Tucker.

“We’re here to build authentic, caring relationships,” says Pascarella, an associate professor of clinical education who had been a faculty member in residence at South Residential College since 2012. One of his passions is supporting firstgeneration students through his annual College Access Day. “We want to draw from students’ diverse backgrounds, to expose them to growth opportunities they’re not going to get in class,” Pascarella says. “We want to connect students with alumni and cultivate a commitment to service, which aligns with our mission as a university.”

Chung, associate professor of clinical education, works with students at Cale Residential College, which emphasizes global perspectives, and at Irani Residential College, which focuses on performance science. Chung has been teaching at USC for more than two decades, chairing committees on pedagogy and academic integrity. Her two sons, one a sophomore at USC, will live with her.

She looks forward to trips to venues like Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Watts Towers. She’s also thinking of informal gatherings centered around food, like a “Noodles of the World” night.

Tiruviluamala, an assistant professor of mathematics, grew up in a family that played math games for fun. He hopes

to extend the tradition at Priam Residential College, which is themed around innovation and design.

“Creating an academic and intellectual environment that’s nourished in a relaxed way, that’s exactly what residential college life at USC Village can be,” he says. “My best times in college were outside the classroom. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t learning.”

Tucker, an assistant professor in writing, joins Pascarella at McCarthy Honors College to mentor freshman scholars.

Baker, a psychology professor, takes her expertise from her prior stint at Webb Tower over to Cowlings Residential College, which focuses on arts and culture. Leaks, a clinical psychologist at Student Counseling Services, handles duties at Bohnett Residential College, which is themed around social justice, and Nemirovsky Residential College, which emphasizes sustainability.

Professors next door: Neelesh Tiruviluamala, left, Laura Baker and John Pascarella

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David Judson, right, president of Judson Studios, looks on as Luisa Valencia carefully sets a few pieces of reclaimed glass within a window pattern for USC Village.

Artists used vintage glass within new windows to add history and tradition.

( S TA I N E D ) G L A S S

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Windows in the Honors Dining Hall feature emblems that draw upon USC’s academic heritage. Elements of USC’s shield and seal that appear frequently in the windows include the sun, which evokes USC’s location in the west, and the torch, which symbolizes knowledge.

ARCHIVAL PHOTOS COURTESY OF JUDSON STUDIOS

You can’t blame first-time visitors to USC Village when they’re taken in by the sheer scope of the massive $700 million residential-retail complex.

But its beauty also lies in its details.

They’re apparent in the gem-colored light and muted shadows cast by USC Village’s handcrafted stained-glass windows. The windows star as the showpiece of the complex’s expansive dining area in McCarthy Honors College and offer a collegiate sensibility reminiscent of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts.

Created at Judson Studios in northeast Los Angeles, the windows give a glimpse into the university’s soul. Emblems of Troy abound in the panels, from the university’s shield to colorful crests and icons that represent the USC schools and residential colleges. Some symbols were chosen from USC’s heraldic academic flags to reflect the longstanding, deep traditions of the university.

“Our iconography represents the proud symbolism of the Trojan Family,” says USC President C. L. Max Nikias, who worked closely with the artists for a year to ensure that the panels celebrate USC’s intellectual heritage. “The timeless artistry of these beautiful windows is a testimony to our vibrant culture and rich shared past.”

It’s fitting that the creators behind the windows —some of the nation’s most acclaimed glass artisans—have a history intertwined with USC. Their story begins with English painter William Lees Judson, who became the first dean of USC’s fine arts school in the late 1890s. He convinced USC to build its residential College of Fine Arts in northeast Los Angeles, across the street from his own home above the Arroyo Seco. When the college building burned down in 1910, it was replaced with the American Craftsman-style building that still stands on the site.

After USC eventually relocated its fine arts programs to the University Park Campus, Judson moved his family’s stained-glass business— Judson Studios—to the former college building. In the years since, the building has been designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and three subsequent generations of Judsons have attended USC. The artist behind the stained glass at USC Village, David Judson MA ’96, is William Lees Judson’s great-great-grandson.

The studio has created stained glass for buildings across USC, including Our Savior Parish/USC Caruso Catholic Center, Mudd Hall and Town and Gown, filling rooms with light that inspires, enlightens and uplifts.

Stained glass is still made in much the same way it was in the Middle Ages. Artisans cut colored glass, which may then be further painted and fired to seal in the tint. The shapes are surrounded with lead, fitted together and soldered into place to form a window.

William Lees Judson, right, was the first dean of the USC College of Fine Arts and the founder of Judson Studios. The center that once housed the art school, left, burned down in 1910. Builders put up a new structure for the college on the same site, and today it’s home to Judson Studios.

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HECUBA At USC Village, all paseos lead to the Central Piazza, which features a uniquely Trojan landmark that celebrates the women of Troy: a sculpture of Hecuba, the majestic queen of Troy.

Wife of King Priam, Hecuba took a stand to preserve and protect her family and beloved city. Her story lives on in classic works by Homer, Virgil and Euripides.

“In times of great grief and great joy, in times of trial and tribulation, in times of tragedy and triumph, it was Hecuba whose courage and compassion embodied the strength of spirit that is found within every Trojan,” USC President C. L. Max Nikias says.

The Hecuba statue rises gracefully more than 20 feet into the sky. Her figure stands atop a base sculpted with reliefs of six female figures who depict the ethnic diversity of USC in the 21st century.

They are African, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Native American. The figures also represent the diversity of USC’s wide array of disciplines, including medicine, technology, and the humanities, sciences, arts and social sciences.

Renowned California-born artist and Trojan parent Christopher Slatoff, who previously created the Judge Robert Maclay Widney statue that stands at Widney Alumni House, designed the regal bronze sculpture. The towering figure weighs nearly 2 tons and matches the grand scale of the Central Piazza. While Tommy Trojan stands proudly in Hahn Plaza representing the spirit of Troy and the traits of the ideal Trojan, Hecuba warmly welcomes everyone into the Trojan Family, as she represents strength of spirit and celebrates the women of Troy.

JOBS USC Village brought construction jobs to South Los Angeles, as well as ongoing work in maintenance, retail, food service and more.

Here’s a snapshot of how the project’s construction boosted employment: Bohnett Residential College

Cale Residential College

5,600

Carpenters, electricians, painters, masons and other skilled tradesmen and women

2.6 million

Cumulative work hours

550

Average number of workers who worked onsite daily

38% Cowlings Ilium Residential College Residential College

Proportion of workers who lived in the city of Los Angeles

>20%

Proportion of workers who lived within 5 miles of the project

Irani Residential College

McCarthy Honors College

Nemirovsky Residential College

Priam Residential College

ICONOGRAPHY The symbols of heraldry have stood as marks of achievement for centuries. What’s old is now new, as USC draws on this history to shape the icons that represent its residential colleges.

Each USC residential college has its own crest. With the creation of eight new residential colleges at USC Village, the suite of crests now has swelled to 14.

Every crest displays visual elements that hold special meaning. The design for McCarthy Honors College, for example, is inspired by the intersecting walkways of McCarthy Quad. Symbols used in the crests often relate to the theme of the residential college or originate as elements from USC’s seal and shield.

The crests remain true to the university’s official colors, upholding tradition and a sense of place and belonging.

KEYS One less thing USC Village residents have to worry about: lost room keys. Students use their ID cards to open their room doors and, if they live in a multi-bedroom unit, their individual bedroom doors. The cards also unlock the gates that protect USC Village’s perimeter, which are closed to the public overnight.

The lobby of each building has a 24-hour staffed reception desk to ensure that only students and registered guests can enter student living areas.

Security measures include fingerprint scanners and facial recognition. To summon elevators and go upstairs, residents must scan an ID card at the elevator bank.

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ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF USC UNIVERISTY ARCHIVES

LAND Long before there was USC Village, there was the land on which it now stands—scrubby and open.

When the Spanish arrived to lay claim to California, indigenous people known as the Tongva (Gabrielino) inhabited the Los Angeles basin. The original Spanish civilian settlement that would become the city of Los Angeles grew in the 1780s around the area today known as Olvera Street in downtown L.A. During the era of Spanish and Mexican ranchos, the long trip from El Pueblo de Los Angeles to the lonely site of the future USC was probably best attempted on horseback. After California was ceded to the United States, one man who certainly visited the area where USC Village now stands was prominent surveyor Henry Hancock. He would have walked along what is today Hoover Street, dragging the chains and stakes used to mark the borders of the city of Los Angeles under the U.S. Land Commission’s patent of 1856. (Hoover formed the city’s western edge. The city’s southwestern corner stood at the site of what is now Metro’s Exposition/USC rail station.)

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Within a few decades of Judge Robert Maclay Widney’s founding of USC in 1880, maps of Los Angeles show houses dotting expansive fields north of the university. As USC and L.A. matured, the North University Park neighborhood thrived. Street blocks like 31st and 32nd between Hoover and Orchard Avenue, which no longer exist, once were lined with homes. Many took up residence in Victorian and Craftsman houses in North University Park, and some of these structures still stand.

Just after the turn of the 20th century, a police station opened at Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover— the first outside downtown L.A. The site would later host a bank, then a Denny’s restaurant. Today, it features an entrance to USC Village.

Maps from a 1921 real estate atlas in USC Libraries’ Special Collections show a nursery in the area.

They also show a theater on Jefferson between McClintock Avenue and Hoover. Known as University Theater, it become the Realart Theater, and then the Trojan Theater, which showed its last movie in 1952.

Businesses continued to grow along Jefferson in the latter half of the century. Photos show shops

like Tuxedo Center and Hensley Jewelers. There was also a pharmacy, camera shop, travel agency and cleaners. But in the 1970s, a redevelopment project sought to stimulate renewal in the area. Besides seeing new apartment buildings and a fire station built on Jefferson, students and neighbors could frequent the new University Village shopping center—which opened in 1976 on the site of a former meatpacking plant.

Trojans may remember businesses from the time: Tam’s, a stationery and book store; Silverwoods, a men’s clothing shop; and the 32nd Street Market, to name a few.

USC purchased the University Village shopping center in 1999, and by the 2000s, it was time for a fresh start on the property. The center was demolished in 2014, opening a new chapter for students and neighborhood residents alike.

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McCARTHY HONORS COLLEGE The Kathleen L. McCarthy Honors College is now home to first-year students who are among the nation’s brightest. In 2014, the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation, chaired by USC Trustee Kathleen Leavey McCarthy ’57, donated $30 million to the university, making it possible to integrate USC’s undergraduate scholarship and honors programs and establish a community of exceptional scholars at the residential college.

McCarthy Honors College houses nearly 600 freshman scholars and offers exclusive academic, cultural and social activities. Students receive regular mentoring from two members of the faculty in residence and an extensive residential education staff, who coordinate weekly themed discussions with guest speakers. Other activities include presentations from USC faculty and visiting scholars. The building also features dedicated spaces for honors seminars, group study, oneon-one advising and relaxing outdoors.

Freshmen at the residential college can participate in unique opportunities available only to honors students. They also move in to their rooms before other USC students do and bond as a community at a special off-campus retreat during Welcome Week.

Their home is immediately recognizable to visitors. It features USC Village’s most prominent architectural feature, a 150-foot-tall clock tower that overlooks the Central Piazza.

OBJECTS Excavate 15 acres of land, and you’re bound to find an object someone left behind. USC Village construction workers acted as contemporary archaeologists, salvaging mysterious detritus they discovered during the project.

Among their odd “treasures” were intricate glass bottles, a few horseshoes and a railroad spike.

No one knows their provenance, now lost to the shifting sands of Los Angeles history.

The biggest mixed-use development project ever in South L.A. history, USC Village welcomes its neighbors to enjoy its open piazzas and offers green space for anyone interested in strolling and relaxing in public areas.

The complex’s retail outlets—including Trader Joe’s and Target—offer healthful food and everyday essentials. More than 460 public parking spaces are available to shoppers in an underground lot. A community room was built to host local events and gatherings, as well.

Neighbors also benefit from the street improvements along Jefferson Boulevard, including wider sidewalks, bike lanes and more crosswalks, some of which have been updated to allow for safer pedestrian crossings. USC Village also brings the community jobs at its residence halls, shops and restaurants.

With more than 2,500 beds for students, USC Village frees up rental housing space for the community, as more students live on campus rather than in nearby apartments. USC also invested $20 million in affordable housing funds for the neighborhood and opened a free legal clinic providing help for South L.A. residents needing housing and landlord-tenant dispute resolution.

$20 million Funds for affordable housing:

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OBJECTS PHOTO BY MEIKO TAKECHI ARQUILLOS

NEIGHBORHOOD

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Visit campaign.usc.edu to learn how you can support students and USC Village.

Philanthropy USC Village will transform student life for generations to come, and the Trojan Family is playing a big part in it.

More than a million bricks went into the construction of USC Village, but it was the generosity of the Trojan Family that built it.

USC trustees, alumni, Trojan parents and friends from around the world stepped forward to make USC Village possible. Their words echo those of USC Trustee Kathleen Leavey McCarthy ’57, who has given to USC for many years to support improvements across the university.

“Seeing the university evolve over the years has been nothing but a joyful experience,” says McCarthy, whose latest gift created a new residential honors college for exceptional freshmen at USC Village.

McCarthy is one example of the many people who have celebrated the rise of USC and helped make it happen through their giving. Thanks to gifts of all sizes, USC now offers an unparalleled living-learning program—a key factor in recruiting the highest caliber students.

TAKING THE LEAD Every student who has thrown a Frisbee across McCarthy Quad or had a late-night study session in Leavey Library has experienced firsthand the generosity of Kathleen Leavey McCarthy and her family. As chair of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation, which was created by her parents, McCarthy helped fund these two hubs for students. In 2014, she took her commitment one step further: She gave USC’s honors students a new home.

David Bohnett

Anonymous Donor, Cowlings Residential College

Charles and Jessie Cale

Ray Irani

Anonymous Donor, Priam Residential College Kathleen Leavey McCarthy

Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky

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A $30 million gift from her family’s foundation established Kathleen L. McCarthy Honors College at USC Village.

The residence hall houses first-year students who received Mork Family, Stamps Leadership, Trustee or Presidential scholarships.

“This is going to be a very special place for these students who are so bright and accomplished,” McCarthy said when the gift was announced.

Since 2012, almost all USC freshmen have lived in the residential college system.

Often referred to as the Oxford model, this centuries-old academic tradition assigns students housing in a “college,” where interacting with other students and faculty mentors outside the classroom forges intellectual and social bonds that can last a lifetime. USC Village’s eight new residential colleges blend traditions from the Oxford model with elements unique to USC. CIRCLE OF SUPPORT Other USC trustees and alumni stepped in to help create USC Village, as well. So far, seven residential colleges have been endowed, including two by donors who chose to give anonymously.

Through his $20 million gift, USC Trustee Ray Irani PhD ’57, former CEO of Occidental Petroleum, named the Ray Irani Residential College and established a scholarship fund that will help students attend USC. His gift also endowed two faculty chairs: the Ghada Irani Chair in the Keck School of Medicine of USC, named for his wife; and the Ray Irani Chair, established at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

A philanthropist and technology entrepreneur, USC Trustee David Bohnett ’78 pledged $15 million to endow the David C. Bohnett Residential College, which usc trojan family

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focuses on social justice and community service. In addition, Bohnett established a leadership fund at the USC Price School of Public Policy supporting a fellowship in public policy with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He also endowed a chair in social entrepreneurship at the USC Marshall School of Business.

Charles Cale ’66, a USC trustee and financial investor, and his wife, Jessie, are longtime supporters of academic and athletic programs across the university. Their latest gift of $15 million established the Jessie and Charles Cale Residential College at USC Village.

A $15 million gift from USC Trustee Shelly Nemirovsky ’85 and her husband, Ofer, established the Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Residential College at USC Village. “Knowing that all USC students will now have the opportunity to continue conversations beyond the classroom, in the spirit of collaboration, is thrilling for me,” says Nemirovsky, a graduate of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

The generous giving for USC Village is part of the Campaign for USC, an unprecedented fundraising effort to advance USC’s academic priorities and expand its positive impact on the community and world. When launched in 2011, the campaign had the largest fundraising goal ever announced in higher education—$6 billion. After exceeding its goal nearly 18 months ahead of schedule, the campaign continues to draw unparalleled support for the university’s mission and has been extended through 2021.

A P L AC E FOR GEN ER AT I ON S Surrounding the residential colleges is a scenic network of walkways and plazas where USC Village’s students and visitors can take breaks and stop for coffee. Trustees, alumni and friends have supported these outdoor spaces, as well as other resources for students. These are just a sample: • Fernow and McMaster Way is a wide, tree-lined paseo that starts at Jefferson Boulevard and leads past Irani and Priam residential colleges to the shaded benches at Fernow and McMaster Plaza. Made possible with support from Dennis Fernow ’63, a real estate agent, and Thomas McMaster, former owner of an electric contracting firm, the walkway and plaza are part of a gift that also endowed the Dennis Fernow and Thomas McMaster Fund for Psychiatry.

QUADS With so many floor plans and more than 2,500 beds at USC Village, residents have plenty of room configurations to choose from. Some suites accommodate two people, while others fit as many as eight. One common option is a four-person unit, which has several floor plan options throughout the residential colleges, including suites with two rooms or four rooms, floor-level or lofted beds, and other variations. Curious? Explore students’ options at housing.usc.edu.

Two bedrooms + two bathrooms

Two bedrooms with loft beds

Four single bedrooms

Some suites fit as many as eight students

R E TA I L E R S New shops and stores offer more than 100,000 square feet of retail space and choices for USC students and South L.A., with plenty of parking.

Here’s a sampling (and check out the latest full listing online at usc-village.com): Target, Trader Joe’s (a first in the neighborhood), Bank of America, Starbucks and Village Cobbler—a shop that returned from University Village.

• A serene 60-foot-long reflecting pool and fountain in USC Village’s main plaza was funded through a gift from USC Trustee Daniel Tsai, chairman of Fubon Financial, and his wife, Irene MA ’83, both longtime supporters of the university. The 8,500-gallon Fubon Fountain features 24 water jets and is illuminated with LED lights.

• Freeberg Bridge, spanning between Cowlings Residential College and McCarthy Honors College, was named through support from the Don and Lorraine Freeberg Foundation. The foundation—overseen by the couple’s son Daniel MBA ’76— also created the Freeberg Scholars Endowment Fund, which provides financial assistance to students in the Master of Business for Veterans program at USC Marshall.

• Just to the south of McCarthy Honors College runs Holoman Way, supported

by Eric Holoman ’83, operating partner for Magic Johnson Enterprises, and his wife, Terri. They’ve also generously given to scholarship programs at USC Marshall and the USC Black Alumni Association.

• Supporters have endowed spaces exclusively for students, as well. Undergraduates can study in a lounge named by the Wayne L. Rogers Family at Cale Residential College, for example. The Rogers family’s gift also supports the USC Dornsife Dean’s Endowed Fund for Excellence.

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SCALE “USC Village will no longer be adjacent to campus.

It will be the campus.” So said USC President C. L. Max Nikias at its groundbreaking. USC Village’s construction logistics and materials alone made the sheer scale of the project unprecedented in the university’s history. Here are a few of the numbers:

1,124 days USC Village project duration (June 2, 2014 – July 1, 2017)

896 days

1.4 million Bricks used

110,000 cubic yards Concrete poured

Construction duration

1.2 million Miles of wire used

23 million Pounds of rebar used

TRADITIONS USC Village is just one of the ways USC has elevated student life. Undergrads today find residential colleges that have been reinvented. They aren’t just places to live— they’re learning communities. There’s more to do, more ways to make friends, more ways to feel connected, and more traditions to bind Trojans together.

Take the Residential College Cup. The yearlong competition, started in 2016, pits residential colleges for first-year students against each other in activities like intramural sports and trivia nights. Birnkrant took home the first Residential College Cup. This fall, the six original colleges face even stiffer competition as USC Village’s McCarthy Honors College joins in.

Playing games, whether they involve wiggling through hula-hoops or shooting free throws while blindfolded, is a big part of the competition.

Other activities that help students develop a sense of belonging involve intellectual pursuits and community service.

The effort grew out of two years of extensive research by USC staffers who aim to boost all aspects of student life.

“We have taken the best practices from colleges in the U.S.,” says Ainsley Carry, vice president of student affairs, “and intend to build the cutting-edge residential college experience.”

U N D E RG R A D U AT E H O U S I N G Eight new residential colleges are housed within five of USC Village's six buildings, creating not only a new home, but also new ways to learn for more than 2,500 undergraduates. McCarthy Honors College is the only building to house freshmen.

The first new campus housing complex in a decade, USC Village holds 663 residential college units: 518 suites with kitchens and another 145 without them. Also onsite is a substation of USC’s Department of Public Safety, which is staffed 24 hours a day.

The addition of USC Village expands undergraduate housing across USC by 24 percent.

About 9,200 students, both undergraduate and graduate, can now live in USC housing. Space at other USC housing facilities was reconfigured to accommodate many more graduate students and students with families, spreading the benefits of USC Village beyond Trojan undergraduates.

663 Number of units in USC Village’s residential colleges

8 New residential colleges at USC Village

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24%

Growth in undergraduate housing thanks to USC Village

9,200 Number of spots for undergraduate and graduate students in USC housing

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V I C TO RY B E L L Hundreds of USC Village construction workers gathered to celebrate after the USC football team’s 2016 win over UCLA. With help from coach Clay Helton, workers jumped at the chance to ring the Victory Bell. “I really felt the Trojan spirit,” said construction worker Ruben Ortiz at the time. “I’ve always been a Trojan fan.

It was great for the head coach to come out here and support our work.”

Visitors and students alike can find places to read and relax in USC Village’s park-like setting.

Courtyards in student-only areas offer comfortable outdoor seating and green spaces, while public paseos are lined with trees.

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USC Village’s broad paseos converge at the tree-lined Central Piazza at the core of the complex. The patterned red bricks and concrete paving in the plaza, which cover almost the area of a football field, echo the design of the space’s sister site, Hahn Plaza.

The park-like environment offers up decisions: walk awhile, or sip a cup of coffee?

As visitors stroll from Fernow and McMaster Plaza down Holoman Way, they’ll look up at USC Village’s facades through a leafy filter. About 390 trees now grow at USC Village, including a 30-foot-tall California live oak that provides a serene backdrop for the plaza’s sculpture of Hecuba.

The complex’s camphor trees are a member of the laurel family, so they have pungent-smelling leaves. Its Arbutus marina, or strawberry, trees display a reddish-hued bark. The trees can survive with relatively little water. Landscaping meets California’s green building codes, with weather stations and flow sensors to irrigate efficiently. An anemometer mounted on a lamppost near Fubon Fountain measures wind speed and automatically adjusts the height of the fountain's jets to conserve water, keeping it from spraying outside the fountain—or onto pedestrians.

Along Jefferson Boulevard, walkers will now find added signal lights. They’ll also encounter scramble crosswalks at the intersections of Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street and Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Street. These lights stop all vehicle traffic so pedestrians can walk across or diagonally through the intersection. Wider sidewalks accommodate the heavier foot traffic around USC Village, too.

Jefferson Boulevard street parking in front of USC Village has been eliminated and replaced with bike lanes. Bike lanes are now available on all the streets bordering the complex.

WALKWAYS PHOTOS COURTESY OF HARLEY ELLIS DEVEREAUX (HED)

W A L K W AY S

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X- FA C T O R

ZIP CODE

The $700 million USC Village complex increases the area of the University Park Campus by 1.25 million square feet. But beyond the numbers, its impact on the campus culture, academics and student life is a game changer—the X-factor that will shape USC in the decades ahead.

USC PRESIDENT C. L. MAX NIKIAS

YO G A

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“This is by far the biggest thing USC has ever done, and probably will ever do.”

USC Village moves the northern border of the University Park Campus from Jefferson Boulevard to 30th Street—and it’s a seamless transition. Sight lines, walkways and architectural elements were all carefully designed to connect USC Village visually across Jefferson Boulevard to the rest of campus, so that no matter where you are, it always looks and feels like one USC. The hundreds of students living in USC Village even share the same zip code that students living at the University Park Campus have long had: 90007.

Step into the 30,000square-foot USC Village Recreation Center and you might feel compelled to breathe deeply and stretch.

The center is designed for that, with plenty of natural light and open space for those inspired to try some cardio or dance moves.

The fitness center’s clean, contemporary design serves as the backdrop for about a hundred cardio stations, including treadmills, stationary bikes and rowing machines.

Resistance machines abound. So do flat-screen displays. Spacious group-fitness rooms support a full schedule of cardio, yoga, muscle conditioning and body sculpting classes.

With the new gym and renovations to the Lyon Center, the Trojan community now has more space to exercise indoors on USC’s campuses. “This will transform the way students can utilize recreation at the university,” says Justine Gilman, director of recreational sports. “It’s the biggest opportunity we’ve had to increase workout space since the Lyon Center opened in 1989.”

The USC Village gym expands signature programs offered at the Lyon Center, including personal training. Any enrolled students can use the facilities, while employees, alumni and guests can pay for membership there as well as at the Health Sciences Campus.

These stories were created by Ron Mackovich, Elisa Huang, Alicia Di Rado and Joanna Clay.

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you are invited!

usc l a mbda l gbt alumni association

anniversary gala

USC Town and Gown | 11.15.2017 | 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Since 1992, the USC Lambda LGBT Alumni Association has been connecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied Trojans to each other and the university. Each year, USC Lambda awards scholarships to students (regardless of their sexual or gender identity) who demonstrate a dedication to LGBT issues.

Join us and make USC Lambda a part of your life as we build a legacy of pride for decades to come.

WE’RE ALL FAMILY HERE. | LAMBDA.USC.EDU

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9/3/17 6:16 AM

FA M I LY

PHOTO BY BRAD SWONETZ/REDUX

A GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY There are 12.4 billion cell phone calls made every day on Earth.

All of them share one unique property: the voices are decoded and made clear across great distances through the Viterbi Algorithm. It’s named after its inventor, Andrew Viterbi PhD ’62, namesake of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. The algorithm turned 50 this year, and it’s still influencing modern communication. Learn how at bit.ly/ViterbiAlgorithm.

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To learn more about USC’s Alumni Entrepreneurship Network, go to alumni.usc.edu/alumninetworks.

family news

Ready, Set, Startup by bekah wright Though it officially launched in April, USC’s alumni group for Trojan entrepreneurs had rumblings of interest that began much earlier.

Daniel Goldberg JD ’11, an attorney at Frankfurt Kurnit Kleinz + Selz, first learned about USC Alumni Association’s Alumni Entrepreneurs Network (AEN) while attempting to form a similar group within USC Gould School of Law. On the same search was Sheila Pakdaman MS ’12, a graduate of the Keck School of Medicine of USC and founder of iTutorU, a tutoring company for students in kindergarten through graduate school. “Entrepreneurship has its moments when you can feel very isolated,” she says. “I was seeking something purely entrepreneurial where I could connect with Trojans to bounce ideas, network and learn from others.”

Both are now founding committee

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members of AEN, with Goldberg serving as the membership chair. For him, it’s the perfect time for such a group. “We want our entrepreneurs to connect with each other, develop ideas and inspire others, which will ultimately lead to a better and stronger Trojan and L.A.-based community.”

Bringing diverse alumni under one umbrella is important, adds Nicole Gordillo ’00, MPAS ’08, director of USC’s alumni affinity programs. “USC produces some of the top entrepreneurial talent in the world,” she says. “According to the career insights of more than 240,000 alumni on USC’s LinkedIn page, more than 20,000 list entrepreneurship as their profession, making it the third-most popular occupation for members on the site.”

Vanessa Ballesteros ’04 is just one example. A few years ago, the USC Annenberg School for Communication and

Journalism alumna left behind a 10-year career in television to start her own business. “Though I loved what I was doing, I had this shift in what I wanted and how I wanted to give back,” she says. In 2016, she founded Sunbox, a healthy eating service for people on the go.

Ballesteros heard about AEN’s inception through a networking event. She already had leaned on the Trojan Entertainment Network for mid-career Trojans, so her immediate reaction was, “Count me in.” Now she serves as the committee’s chair-at-large. “Members coming from different disciplines bring different perspectives, skills and attributes to the table,” she says. “We help each other innovate.”

When AEN’s spring launch event with a speaker panel drew more than 200 Trojans, the leaders knew that they had found an untapped network.

A 23-member committee was formed, and stepping into the role of chair is Don Larsen EMBA ’01, EMHA ’17. The chief medical officer for Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Larsen has worked with USC and Keck Medicine of USC faculty on three medical devices and now advises other startups.

Of AEN’s goals, Larsen says, “We’re exploring different types of programming and leadership resources, everything from advice on raising funds and marketing to mindfulness and dealing with failure.”

An expert on getting ideas off the ground, he has high hopes for AEN, especially since the group has one big Trojan advantage: “We’ll be tapping into internal resources at the university level some may not realize are available.”

PHOTO BY WILL CHIANG

Trojan entrepreneurs find support, mentorship and more in USC’s newest alumni group.

USC’s Nicole Gordillo, left, and Jennifer Dyer, executive director of the USC Stevens Center for Innovation, center, with AEN members Josh Berman, Ravinder Karwal and Samit Varma

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Jaime Lee with, from left, Rod Nakamoto, immediate past president of the USCAA Board of Governors; Patrick Auerbach, USC’s associate vice president of alumni relations; and Michael Felix, president-elect of the USCAA Board of Governors

Lee Leads the Way

PHOTO BY JOSH KRAUSE

A third-generation Trojan makes her mark as the new president of the USCAA Board of Governors.

It was a friendly bet over a Trojan football game that landed Jaime Lee ’06, JD ’09 at USC. When she was a high school junior, she received a postcard from the university recommending that she apply for the Resident Honors Program. Her father prodded, “Why not skip your senior year of high school and enter USC early?”

Lee wouldn’t hear of it. The Encino, California-born teen had her sights set on the East Coast. But her father laid out a proposal: They’d attend a USC football game, and if the Trojans won, she would apply.

The fateful game was against UCLA, with USC’s newly minted head coach Pete Carroll. The final scoreboard read 27-0 to USC, so Lee submitted her application for the honors program—and entered USC with a Presidential Scholarship in 2002.

Still, a Stanford transfer application was filled out and ready for submission. Then Lee attended the next home football game.

“It was a beautiful, hot L.A. day, I was with amazing new friends and we had another shut-out victory,” she recalls. “It was then tfm.usc.edu

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I knew—USC was the greatest place on Earth. There was no way I was leaving.”

Of her seven years as a USC student, Lee says, “It was an incredible time to be a student, turning me into a fanatical Trojan.” So much so that at 17 years old, Lee made a declaration to her parents: “I told them my life goal was to one day be a USC trustee.”

Lee is a third-generation Trojan, following in the footsteps of her mother, Miki Nam ’79, and grandfather, Andrew Chung Woo Nam DDS ’72. Continuing her example of earning double USC degrees are her siblings: Phillip ’08, JD ’12; Brian ’09, MBA ’14; and Garrett ’11, JD ’14.

Today, Lee serves as the 94th president of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors. “At 32, I’m proud that I’m the youngest president in the board’s history, 11th woman, first Asian female, first Korean,” she says.

Lee recently completed a two-year term as president of the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association and has served on the governing board for three other USC

alumni groups. She juggles volunteering with her career as chief executive officer of Jamison Realty, the leasing and brokerage arm of the Jamison group of companies.

Added to the mix is a home life with husband Matt Cheesebro MSE ’09, daughter Nora and a son born this summer.

Lee’s plans for her presidential tenure are already underway: “We’re striving for diversity and inclusion in all things.” This year’s USC Global Conference takes place in Tokyo and brings an opportunity to reach out to the university’s Asia-based constituency. Additionally, a new regional program is being launched to develop alumni leaders in key geographic areas across the United States. Young alumni, who make up onethird of USC’s alumni population, also will be an area of focus.

“We need to do strong outreach to figure out what services they need and how USC can engage with them to provide meaningful experiences,” Lee says. Good thing she knows firsthand that USC is the place that can make it happen.

BEKAH WRIGHT

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family news Three young alumni balance career aspirations with their personal passions.

Carving New Paths

BY BEKAH WRIGHT

It isn’t always easy balancing your personal interests with your career, but Trojans have a way of blazing their own trails. “In many ways, USC provides an education into what will become your personal passions,” says Katelynn Whitaker ’12, who graduated from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She and fellow young alumni have carved non-traditional paths after graduation, applying plenty of initiative and determination to make their mark. Here are three who have done just that.

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KATELYNN WHITAKER ’12 A love for USC was instilled early on for this third-generation Trojan, whose family includes grandfather John O. Whitaker DDS ’48 and father John F. Whitaker DDS ’77. At her grandfather’s funeral, loved ones donned cardinal and gold, and his casket was emblazoned with an image of Tommy Trojan and the words “Fight On, John!”

The Manhattan Beach, California, native chose USC Annenberg, pursuing a journalism major and marketing minor.

Though the media industry was undergoing a transition, Whitaker says, “I believed there was a future for journalism, whether in print or online, and felt a call to tell great stories.”

After an internship at the Movember Foundation, she became the organization’s head of marketing. Whitaker describes this turn of events as serendipitous. “The Movember job came during this great turning point when companies were realizing storytelling mattered for their brands,” she says. “As with a lot of millennials, I’ve grown to realize basing my career on a personal passion makes work easier and life more fulfilling.”

Movember Foundation, a global men’s health charity, has raised more than $750 million for prostate and testicular cancer research, mental health programs and suicide prevention. Its signature event each November challenges men to grow a mustache to raise awareness and funds for men’s health. “The health and well-being lens shines a light on how important it is to have hands-on partners and strong family connections,” she says.

Fostering connections is something Whitaker knows well. As a student, she was a member of Delta Gamma, worked at the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities and was a sports photographer for the Daily Trojan. Today, she’s strengthening ties as president-elect of USC’s Young Alumni Council, where she hopes to continue supporting a shared quality with other Trojans: the desire to do good and help others.

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TRUONG PHOTO BY BANH TROI NUOC; CHALTIEL STUDENT PHOTO BY OLGA LEVCHIK

EDOUARD CHALTIEL MBA ’14 Born in Los Angeles and raised in Las Vegas, Edouard Chaltiel had an unusual job trajectory. “My career path has been non-traditional, having worked on projects that involve wide-ranging industries such as tech, real estate and health care,” he says. Of course, business risk-taking also runs in his family. In 1997, Chaltiel’s father launched Redhills Ventures, a seed capital company that primarily invested in health care. Chaltiel worked at Redhills Ventures for five years before leaving to study entrepreneurship and pursue his MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business.

As a student, Chaltiel was president of USC Marshall’s Hospitality and Gaming Club, where he helped organize the club’s annual Vegas Trek, which takes students on hotel tours and networking events in Las Vegas. He and Will Van Noll ’06, MBA ’14 also launched the MBA Hoops Summit, a two-day tournament and networking event for MBA programs across the country.

Chaltiel’s time at USC also inspired Blingware, a business featuring commemorative tumblers. The first license to come onboard was USC. “While we’ve now grown our total licenses to six, it was pretty special having USC support us from the beginning to help grow the brand,” he says.

Recently Chaltiel founded a new venture capital business, Victoire Ventures. But for him, family comes first.

“While I’d love for one of my projects to take off and be super successful, it won’t mean anything to me if I don’t maintain a strong family bond,” he says.

Through Victoire Ventures, as well as a USC scholarship fund, Chaltiel pays homage to his late father. “I’m very bullish on the school’s future and proud that USC will carry my father’s legacy for many years to come.” tfm.usc.edu

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THEN AND NOW (FROM TOP): Katelynn Whitaker, Edouard Chaltiel and Thuy Truong during their USC days

THUY TRUONG ’09 Thuy Truong has always believed in the importance of making the world better for people. Her activities in pursuit of that goal earned her the moniker “Startup Queen” in her native Vietnam.

Truong moved with her family to California at age 17. After two years at Pasadena City College, she transferred to USC and found the campus captivating. “I could envision spending time, studying and growing here,” she remembers thinking. With encouragement from Michael Crowley, a USC Viterbi School of Engineering professor, and Mark Sargeant ’06, MS ’06 a USC Viterbi teaching assistant, Truong majored in computer science.

She also held part-time jobs and joined the Society of Women Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery, where she garnered prizes in three hackathons.

After graduation, Truong returned to Vietnam. There, she achieved a series of “firsts,” including co-founding Parallel, Vietnam’s first frozen yogurt chain, initiating the country’s first mobile development hackathons, and co-founding the country’s first USC alumni club.

Seeing technology’s potential to impact lives, Truong then launched GreenGar, a mobile app development company. The first Vietnamese woman to have a company accepted into the Silicon Valley accelerator 500 Startups, she was listed in Forbes Vietnam’s Top 50 Most Influential Women in 2017 and named a “Human of the Year” by VICE News.

Truong turned to a new chapter in 2016, when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Undaunted, she founded the nonprofit Salt Cancer Initiative, which gives cancer patients in Vietnam access to information about treatment and, with that, hope. “We’re helping people living with cancer to connect and share their journeys, rather than face the challenge alone,” she says. usc trojan family

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What Will Your Trojan Legacy Be? For former USC Gould School of Law Dean Scott Bice ’65, JD ’68 and his wife, Barbara, their legacy will be an endowed scholarship that will provide educational opportunities for the most promising students today and far into the future—fueled by a $1 million gift through their estate.

“We gave to USC for the same reason that you take care of your parents when they get old— because they took care of you when you were young.”

Scott Bice ’65, JD ’68

To create your Trojan legacy, contact the USC Office of Gift Planning at (213) 740-2682 or giftplanning@usc.edu and visit us online at www.usc.edu/giftplanning.

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family class notes 1 9 5 0 s

Carl Berglund ’52 (ENG) was profiled by the Planetary Society, the space science and exploration organization led by CEO Bill Nye. The feature details Berglund’s role in NASA’s complex 1976 project that intended to send a solar sail to Halley’s Comet.

Wesley A. Brown MS ’55 (ENG) worked for Hughes Aircraft as an engineer and manager on missiles, airborne systems and satellite programs. He later worked at Citicorp as principal systems engineer. He is a freelance woodwind musician in Los Angeles and assistant concertmaster of the L.A. Police Concert Band.

William R. Wilcox ’56 (ENG) was named distinguished professor emeritus at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.

During his 42 years at Clarkson, he served as dean of engineering, chair of the chemical engineering department and Clarkson Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering.

June Simmons MSW ’70 (SSW), president and CEO of the Partners in Care Foundation, has been named one of the 50 influencers in aging by Next Avenue. Since founding Partners in Care in 1997, she has led the organization in developing evidencebased care models that improve health care outcomes.

Candace Cooper ’70, JD ’73 (LAW) and Christine Lawton JD ’90 (LAW) were honored at the 2017 annual Black Law Student Association Banquet.

Diana Turner ’73 (SCJ) was named 2016 Top Producer by Vista Sotheby’s International Realty. She ranked 13th among more than 200 agents. She is also co-chair of major gifts for the executive board of the Trojan League of South Bay.

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David L. Coddon ’77 (SCJ) teaches journalism at San Diego State University and published The Romancer, his first novel.

Frederick P. Aguirre ’68 (LAS) joined Judicate West as a neutral in the firm’s Los Angeles office. He served on the bench since 2002, presiding over family law matters and civil and criminal trials. He currently serves as the judge advocate in the Orange County Council of the Navy League.

Michael Bazyler JD ’78 (LAW), professor of law and the 1939 Society Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies at Chapman University, published Holocaust, Genocide and the Law: A Quest for Justice in a Post-Holocaust World, which won the National Jewish Book Award for the best Holocaust book of 2016.

Mark S. Pash MBA ’69 (BUS) wrote Creating a 21st Century Win-Win Economy.

1 9 7 0 s SIMMONS PHOTO BY ROBERT VLACH

is a paleontologist at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and recently named a river in Alaska.

Gary Cohen ’70 (LAS) retired from the University of Minnesota, where he served as professor of history from 2001-16 and chair of the history department from 2010-13.

Louie Marincovich MS ’70, PhD ’73 (LAS) published his memoir, True North: Hunting Fossils Under the Midnight Sun, in May. He tfm.usc.edu

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Richard E. Russell MPA ’78 (SPP) received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for 50 years of accident-free flying in military and civilian aircraft. He is a certified flight instructor with more than 22,000 hours, including service in Vietnam and helicopter operations in law enforcement.

John H. Daly III MS ’79 (ENG) is manager-director of the Genesee County Road Commission. He was awarded a Fulbright specialist grant to study public infrastructure asset management at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Do you have news to share? Send it along with your name, school and class year to classnotes@ usc.edu and it may appear in a future issue.

Mark Thompson ’79 (SPP) is executive vice president at Capalino+Company, which launched the MWBE Connect NY app to help connect minority- and women-owned businesses with government procurement opportunities. He was one of City & State’s 50 Over 50 and received a Tommy Award for community service from the USC Alumni Club of NYC. Serge Tomassian ’79 (LAS), managing partner of Tomassian, Throckmorton & Inouye LLP in Irvine, California, was elected to serve a fourth term as chairman of the World Affairs Council of Orange County. He also was elected to serve on the national board of the World Affairs Councils of America based in Washington, D.C

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James Agee ’81 (LAS), MS ’83 (SPP) is president of Checchi and Co. Consulting Inc., a top 20 U.S. agency for international development. He spent 26 years working on projects with the company in Asia.

John Latas ’82 (ENG) retired from Netjets after 25 years. He lives with his wife in St. Augustine Beach, Florida.

Tate Donovan ’85 (DRA) appears in the film Blame, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

STUDENT RADIO If you were involved with student radio during your time at USC, the staff at KXSC wants to hear from you.

KXSC—USC’s independent, studentrun radio station, formerly known as KSCR—launched an initiative to locate and register all USC student radio alumni to establish a strong community bond that aims to benefit both students and graduates.

Radio alumni from KXSC, KSCR or other student stations are asked to email gm@kxsc.org. In the email, please include your name, preferred contact email address and USC graduation year.

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family class notes

Do you have news to share? Send it along with your name, school and class year to classnotes@ usc.edu and it may appear in a future issue.

Charles McCool ’85 (BUS) of McCool Travel was named the most infuential travel industry individual and fourth-most-infuential travel brand.

Billie Jean King. The ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award honors a recent college graduate who has demonstrated excellence on and off the tennis court.

Philip Allen ’97 (DRA) was the sound designer and Michelle Blair ’99 (DRA) was stage manager for Zoot Suit at Center Theatre Group.

Vince Mendoza MM ’85 (MUS), composer in residence and first guest conductor for the WDR Big Band, released the album Homecoming, featuring seven original tracks composed for the band.

Christina Dillon DiCaro ’91 (LAS) joined Sacramento-based KP Public Affairs as a lobbyist.

Jean Ardell MPW ’95 (LAS) co-authored Making My Pitch: A Woman’s Baseball Odyssey.

Steve Mindel JD ’85 (LAW), managing partner at FMBK, was named among the top 100 of the Southern California Super Lawyers.

Randale Spurgin MA ’85 (LAS) joined Artisans’ Bank as vice president of residential lending in the Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, office.

Wing Kau Fung ’88 (LAS) was appointed principal at Castelar Street Elementary School in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Gene Goss MA ’88 (LAS) serves as mayor of Sierra Madre, California. He is a professor of political science at Long Beach City College.

Owen P. Gross JD ’88 (LAS), ’94 (LAW) is a partner at Sklar Kirsh. He previously was senior counsel at Cox, Castle & Nicholson.

Gail Samuel ’89 (LAS/MUS), MBA ’02 (BUS), CEO for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is also acting president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.

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Joshua Ginsberg-Margo ’90 (LAS), MA ’93 (LAS) received his Master of Rabbinic Studies and rabbinic ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in California.

His thesis, “The Tao of Judaism,” is a culmination of years of study in East Asian languages and cultures.

Ann Lebedeff PhD ’90 (LAS) was honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association with a new award endowed by tennis legend

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Scott Harger MS ’91 (ENG), a range conservationist for the Coconino Natural Resource Conservation District near Flagstaff, Arizona, received the Good Hand Award from the Arizona Association of Conservation Districts and the Two Chiefs Award from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service.

Jo Scott-Coe ’91 (LAS) delivered the 57th Distinguished Faculty Lecture for the Riverside Community College District.

She is an associate professor of English at Riverside City College.

Adam Wergeles JD ’91 (LAW), executive vice president of business and legal affairs and general counsel at SERVIZ, was profiled in the Daily Journal in February.

Marna Davis ’92 (SCJ) is an account manager at Perry Communications Group, a strategic communications firm.

Eric Garfield ’93 (LAS) was promoted to regional manager of valuation and advisory in the El Segundo, Los Angeles and Inland Empire offices at Cushman & Wakefield.

Darleen Peterson MA ’94 (SCJ), PhD ’05 (MED) is associate professor and associate dean for academic affairs and director of the Master of Public Health Program at Claremont Graduate University. She recently co-edited the third edition of Promoting Health in Multicultural Populations.

Sheryl Rothmuller ’94 (SCJ) is a social media writer in talent acquisition at The Walt Disney Co. She also freelances for Emmys.com.

Michelle Christie MS ’95 (EDU), founder and executive director of No Limits for deaf children, was named a 2017 CNN Hero.

Thom Metzger MPA ’96 (SPP) was appointed director of public affairs for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Aseem Inam PhD ’97 (SPP) was appointed the chair in urban design at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. He is director of TRULAB: Laboratory for Designing Urban Transformation, a research-based practice in New York.

Tezira Nabongo JD/MA ’97 (LAW), PhD ’97 (SCJ) was promoted to senior vice president of talent management at the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.

Jeff Lawrence DPT ’99 (BPT) continues active duty with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He was promoted to full captain, and the U.S. Surgeon General awarded him the second-highest individual award, the Meritorious Service Medal with Valor, for life-saving and voluntary risk of life under conditions not involving confict with an armed enemy.

Jojo Villanueva ’99 (MUS) received two 2017 Guild of Music Supervisor Award nominations for best music supervision for film for his work in Sing and Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life.

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Patrick Dilley PhD ’00 (EDU) is associate professor of higher education and qualitative research, and of women, gender and sexuality studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He published The autumn 2017

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A LU M N I

P R O F I L E

M E G B A R C L A Y M P P ’0 4

Street Smarts

ILLLUSTRATION BY JACQUI OAKLEY

As L.A.’s first homeless coordinator, a USC Price alumna finds solutions for a growing crisis.

As a technician in a Caltech biochemistry lab, Meg Barclay MPP ’04 enjoyed her job, but over time, she realized that her work outside the lab was more fulfilling. A longtime volunteer for neighborhood issues, Barclay switched gears, earning a master’s degree at the USC Price School of Public Policy. Her new career path included jobs in the office of the chief legislative analyst for the city of Los Angeles, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and L.A.’s Economic & Workforce Development Department.

Barclay is now Los Angeles’ first homeless coordinator within the office of the city administrative officer. She recently talked with writer Bekah Wright about new approaches to combat homelessness, and

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how Angelenos can help.

How does your role get to the root of homelessness?

Many departments across the city—from the LAPD to Sanitation to the Parks Department —play roles in implementing Los Angeles’ Comprehensive Homeless Strategy. As homeless coordinator, my job is to know how all these pieces are moving. I look for opportunities to connect the dots. Having a permanent position in charge of all the knowledge around this one issue is important in making sure we move forward.

Why is collaboration between the city and county of Los Angeles important? Having the city and county working together on the issue in a coordinated way is a game changer.

For example, cities across the county, especially the city of Los Angeles, feel the impact of homelessness acutely, but a lot of programs that can make lasting change, like federal funding for health and mental health services, are county prerogatives.

Is there an emerging demographic for homelessness?

We’re seeing more families with children, which is heartbreaking. More of the working poor are becoming homeless just because of housing cost.

Housing is so expensive, and people’s housing situations are becoming more precarious because incomes aren’t rising along with rents.

What’s a common myth about homelessness in L.A.? We’re not creating more of a problem by providing these services.

People aren’t coming to L.A. to be homeless as opposed to somewhere else. The 2017 Los Angeles County home-

less count, recently released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, found that almost 90 percent of people experiencing homelessness had lived here for more than a year before becoming homeless. The greatest proportion of persons experiencing homelessness has lived here for years. They’re people you went to school with or a former neighbor.

How can Angelenos help?

Lend positive voices and support for new housing projects and facilities in your community. When there are meetings about establishing these projects, it’s really helpful to have strong support.

Beyond that, gain some kind of personal experience so you can relay a perspective on homelessness. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s website (lahsa.org) has a list of service providers and volunteer organizations.

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A GRAN D SC HEM E Every great city has its gathering place: Union Square in San Francisco, the expansive Central Park of New York City. In downtown Los Angeles, that iconic public space may finally have its beginnings in Grand Park. A joint venture between the city and county of Los Angeles, the space is a signature project from Rios Clementi Hale Studios, co-founded 30 years ago by USC architecture alumnus Mark Rios, former chair of the USC School of Architecture’s landscape architecture program.

Now USC Trojan Family Magazine touches on a few elements of Grand Park, in the words of two of the firm’s architects.

What about sustainability? Grand Park features a raft of sustainable initiatives.

Water collection, bio-filtration and a percolation zone at the site’s lower lawn take advantage of water’s natural flow. Preserving and relocating existing specimen trees, establishing a native plant palette, and providing an education outreach program all work in concert to distinguish Grand Park as a sustainable and iconic place for all of Los Angeles.

–Mark Motonaga ’91 Comments were edited for length.

See what more of the firm’s architects have to say about Grand Park online at bit.ly/USCgrandpark.

GRAND PARK PHOTO BY JIM SIMMONS

How did you create a park that welcomes people from diverse cultures, who may use parks in different ways? Grand Park’s intense material and visual palette draws from the many cultures and diverse citizenry of the city of Los Angeles.

Reflecting this goal of global inclusion, the diagram of the park draws on the projection of the major continents of the globe onto a two-dimensional map. The park features species from the six floristic kingdoms of the world— Boreal, Neotropical, Paleotropical, Cape, Australian and Antarctic. This scheme unites the four urban blocks

that comprise the park, including the Fountain Plaza, Community Terrace and the Performance and Event lawns. Each space allows for a different use of the park for various groups—making this truly a “park for everyone.” –Mark Rios ’78

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Do you have news to share? Send it along with your name, school and class year to classnotes@ usc.edu and it may appear in a future issue.

Transformation of Women’s Collegiate Education: The Legacy of Virginia Gildersleeve.

Andrew Fryer ’00, MBA ’12 (BUS) published Hollywood’s a Bitch, a novel about an entertainment agency that represents pets.

Marco Gonzales MA ’00 (SCJ) is vice president of public relations and corporate affairs at Liberman Broadcasting Inc., a minorityowned Spanish-language broadcaster.

J. Scot Davis MBA ’01 (BUS) was promoted to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. He is completing the Senior Service College Program in the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies’ Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program.

Robb Korinke ’01 (LAS), principal at GrassrootsLab, wrote and released a report comparing the rise in Latino political participation in the 2016 election with a similar surge in the 1990s.

Nina Huerta JD ’03 (LAW) is managing partner at Locke Lord LLP. She is president of the Mexican American Bar Foundation Board, where she serves with fellow alumna Maria E. Hall JD ’03 (LAW), attorney development director at the Los Angeles Incubator Consortium, who is the board’s vice president.

Chastity Dotson ’04 (DRA) plays Keisha Russell in the Amazon crime drama Bosch and has a recurring role on Amazon’s political thriller Patriot.

Bernadette Reyes ’04 (ARC/LAS) graduated from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business with an executive MBA. She is the national vice president of design for Public Storage.

Matthew Belloni JD ’02 (LAW) was recently named editorial director at The Hollywood Reporter.

Kristy L. McCray ’02 (LAS/SCJ), ME ’07 (EDU), an assistant professor at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, received the 2017 New Teacher of the Year award.

Armen Zenjiryan ’04 (LAS) is a principal at Jackson Lewis, Los Angeles.

Kate Cannova ’03 (DRA) presented a reading of a new musical, Trails, at Pearl Studios in New York City. The stage manager was Jennifer Wheeler Kahn ’04 (DRA) and the cast included James Snyder ’03 (DRA) and Donald Webber Jr. ’08 (DRA).

Cole Grundstedt ’03 (ENG) received his project management professional certification after 10 years in product manufacturing and management.

Wendi Mangiagli Gundersen ’03 (LAS) and Gunnar Gundersen ’04 (ENG) created a firm focusing on estate plans, intellectual property and litigation.

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Hillel Elkins JD ’05 (LAW) is partner in Sklar Kirsh’s entertainment & media group in Los Angeles. He previously served as executive vice president for business and legal affairs at Relativity Media.

Aja Brown ’04, MPL ’05 (SPP), the mayor of Compton, California, received a 2016 John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award.

Maurice Turner MPA ’04 (SPP) is completing a yearlong Congressional Innovation Fellowship as a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Laura Balcerzak ’03 (LAS), founder of Featherpistol Fitness, teaches performance art and acrobatics to beginners.

GRAND PARK PHOTO BY JIM SIMMONS; KRISEL PHOTO BY JAMES SCHNEPF

family class notes

Linda Abraham-Silver EdD ’05 (EDU) was appointed chief executive officer for the Perot Museum in Dallas.

Edgar Aguirre MPA ’05 (SPP) is director of talent development and inclusion for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Nanette Barragan JD ’05 (LAW) was elected to the U.S. Congress, representing California’s 44th District.

David Boschetto MBT ’05 (ACC) retired from the Internal Revenue Service and is an adjunct professor in USC Leventhal’s Master of Business Taxation program.

Brian Duff JD ’05 (LAW), a member of the corporate department at Latham & Watkins LLP, was promoted to counsel.

T R O J A N

T R I B U T E

William Krisel A pioneer of modernist design, William Krisel MA ’49 (ARC) is best known for his post-andbeam homes that have become synonymous with Southern California mid-century architectural style. After World War II, Krisel brought modernism to the masses, creating stylish small homes with open floor plans and airy high ceilings that could be built economically and at great scale.

Born in China, Krisel was the son of an American diplomat. When Japan invaded China, he and his family left the country.

He started at USC in 1941, but after the Pearl Harbor attack, he enlisted in the Army Reserve, where his Chinese language skills landed him on Gen. Joseph Stilwell’s staff as an interpreter.

After returning to USC, Krisel started thinking about affordable design. “To me, the smaller the house, the lower the budget, the bigger the challenge,” he said. “I like problem-solving.”

His signature approach incorporated different exterior elements to tract homes, such as switching out ironwork and modular bricks and alternating roof styles. Though floor plans were identical, he rotated each house’s location on the lot so none looked like its neighbor. He also personally selected all plants, making sure the landscape design matched the structure.

Over his career, Krisel built tens of thousands of modern homes, most notably in Palm Springs, where his open, light-filled designs have been embraced by preservationists.

Krisel died on June 5 at age 92, and is survived by his wife Corinne, children William and Michelle, and six grandchildren.

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Reunion. (we can’t have a reunion without “u”)

We’re celebrating Reunion Weekend 2017 on November 3-4. If you graduated in 1967, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002 or 2007, it’s your year to come back to campus ― to see old friends, experience Homecoming and relive your USC memories!

For details, registration and reunion class giving information, visit reunions.usc.edu or call (213) 740-2300.

ALUMNI.USC.EDU | ALUMNI@USC.EDU | TEL: 213 740 2300

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summer 2017

9/3/17 6:18 AM

TAPE PHOTO BY YURI ARCURS/GETTY IMAGES; BLAIR PHOTO BY BY JAMES GATHANY/CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

A LU M N I

P R O F I L E

J A N E T

B L A I R

The Science Behind Violence

’9 0

for its strong biology program and its proud traditions. “I made the friends of a lifetime,” she adds.

Following her bachelor’s in biological sciences at what’s To help prevent deaths from homicide and suicide in now known as USC Dornsife, America, Janet Blair studies the stories behind them. she earned her master’s in public health at UCLA. She joined the Los Angeles County violent deaths from homicides, With about 160 deaths from hoHealth Department, focussuicides, child maltreatment micide and suicide each day in ing on chronic and infectious and more. Information is the United States, violence is a diseases, while working on her collected from death cernational public health problem. doctorate in epidemiology. tificates and reports from law But it’s also preventable, In 1998, she made her enforcement and medical and according to Janet Blair ’90. dream career move, joining the coroner examiners to create an “There are ways we can CDC’s postgraduate training anonymous database. This inforeffectively intervene just as mation includes the “who, what, program in epidemiology as an we do with other public health epidemic intelligence service when, where and how” about issues so that people can live officer in the Division of HIV/ violent deaths and can help in a healthy world,” says Blair, AIDS Prevention. For nearly a provide insight about why they who leads the Mortality Surdecade at the CDC, Blair had occurred. State and local comveillance Team in the Division a ringside seat as dramatic munities use the data to shape of Violence Prevention at the changes in HIV/AIDS therapies policy decisions and implement Centers for Disease Control and revolutionized treatment. violence prevention programs.

Prevention (CDC).

“Some of the work done here The project fits perfectly Her team’s priority is the helped characterize the HIV into Blair’s self-described misNational Violent Death Reportepidemic,” she says. “People sion “to create science that ing System. Currently in 40 are now able to live healthier helps people.” states, plus the District of lives with care and treatment.”

Growing up in Shaker Columbia and Puerto Rico, it’s When the opportunity Heights, Ohio, Blair always had the first multi-state system arose in 2014 to focus on the a curiosity about how things to compile detailed data on issue of violence in America, work, she says. She chose USC circumstances precipitating

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she jumped at it. Her current position combines her passion for public health with her interests in minority, women’s and LGBT health issues. It also gives her the chance to participate in and publish influential research.

The stories reflected in the violent death database—lost jobs, foreclosed homes, relationship problems, child abuse, physical and mental health issues—can be heartbreaking.

“You’re aware that a human being, a family, is behind each statistic,” Blair says.

Her USC experience still shapes her outlook. Twentyseven years after her USC graduation, she can still recite the five attributes of the ideal Trojan inscribed at the base of the statue of Tommy Trojan: faithful, scholarly, skillful, courageous and ambitious.

“I took those words to heart,” she says, “and I try to live by that philosophy.”

CANDACE PEARSON

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Raise your hand if you’re a member.

That’s right, if you are a degreed alum, you are automatically a lifetime member of the USC Alumni Association.

That means you can: • Connect with fellow alumni worldwide • Find USC events near you • Access lifelong career services • Take advantage of exclusive benefits • Update your contact information

And you can do it all at alumni.usc.edu

ALUMNI.USC.EDU | ALUMNI@USC.EDU | TEL: 213 740 2300

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Do you have news to share? Send it along with your name, school and class year to classnotes@ usc.edu and it may appear in a future issue.

Kelly (Brandlin) LeVeque ’05 (BUS) has formed Be Well by Kelly and published Body Love: Live in Balance, Weigh What You Want and Free Yourself from Food Drama Forever.

Todd B. Scherwin JD ’05 (LAW), managing partner at Fisher Phillips’ Los Angeles office, was named to the Southern California Super Lawyers 2017 list.

Darth Vaughn JD ’05 (LAW) and Casey Flaherty JD ’06 (LAW) were hired by the Orange County office of Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP. Phillip Chen MPA ’06 (SPP), EdD ’14 (EDU) was elected to the California State Assembly.

Ryan Eggold ’06 (DRA) made his featurelength debut at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival in the romantic comedy Literally, Right Before Aaron, which he wrote and directed.

Heather Guibert ’06 (MUS) was nominated in the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards for best music supervision in a television drama and for best song/recording for Rosewood.

Elizabeth Ho ’06 (DRA) co-stars on the Netflix comedy series Disjointed.

Meghan Hong ’06 (DRA) was associate lighting designer on God Looked Away at the Pasadena Playhouse.

David Newman JD ’06 (LAW) wrote “Out of the Courts,” the cover story of Los Angeles Lawyer’s January 2017 real estate issue.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Javier Gutierrez JD ’07 (LAW), a partner at Stuart Kane LLP, is one of Urban Land magazine’s 40 Under 40 for achievements in real estate and community service.

Jeremy Hercher ’07 (ENG) is a computer programmer/developer for Avanade, a Seattle-based company that delivers innovative services and solutions to enterprises on the Microsoft platform.

Aram Moshayedi MA ’07 (ART), GCRT ’11 (LAS), a curator at the Hammer Museum, worked with artist and activist Andrea tfm.usc.edu

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family class notes

Bowers for an installation in the museum’s lobby as part of the Hammer Projects. He also organized an exhibition of recent acquisitions in the museum’s collection.

Janice Myck-Wayne EdD ’07 (EDU) is a full-time professor at California State University, Fullerton. She has received $2.5 million in grants that support candidates receiving special education credentials.

2 0 1 0 s

Ben Bram ’10 (MUS), who creates vocal arrangements for the group Pentatonix, received his third Grammy for best country duo/group performance for its version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”

Tariku Shiferaw ’07 (ART) opened “One of These Black Boys,” his first solo New York exhibition, at New York’s Anthony Philip Fine Art gallery, which coincides with his inclusion in Occupy Museums’ Debtfair project at the 2017 Whitney Biennial.

Marc Berman JD ’08 (LAW), a Palo Alto City Council member, was elected to the California State Assembly representing the 24th District.

Kristi Daraban MCG ’08 (SCJ) heads social media at Abercrombie & Fitch, representing its three corporate brands.

Phil Kong ’08 (DRA) was associate lighting designer for the Golden Fairytale Fanfare and Tomorrowland Stage at Shanghai Disney Resort.

Lili Fuller ’09 (DRA) and Joe Sofranko ’09 (DRA) are writers and executive producers of The Cut, a drama series developed by Fox. Patrycja Malinowska MSW ’09 (SSW) is a psychotherapist in private practice in Burbank, California. She also runs a fitness boot camp and was nominated by the San Fernando Business Journal Women in Business Awards for her work in supporting emotional and physical health in individuals, couples and families.

Brian Selvy MS ’09 (ENG) is systems engineering manager for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope project and served previously as its senior systems engineer.

Riaz Tejani JD ’09 (LAW), assistant professor and acting chair in the Department of Legal Studies at the University of IllinoisSpringfield, published Law Mart: Justice, Access and For-Profit Law Schools.

T R O J A N

T R I B U T E

Carl Reichardt As the CEO of Wells Fargo Bank between 1983 and 1994, Carl Reichardt ’56 (LAS) steered the company through a recession and California’s rocky property market, helping it return to stability and success. He first joined Wells Fargo in 1970, rising to president and then chairman and CEO. He retired in 1994 but returned to the business world in 2001 as vice chairman of Ford Motor Co. to help restructure the company. He also later served as director of companies including ConAgra Foods, Inc. and the Irvine Company.

Reichardt was known and respected in the business world for his down-to-earth thriftiness. A Wall Street Journal article recounted that as Wells Fargo CEO, he got rid of the corporate jet and office potted plants, and even demanded that reports be bound with paper clips, not ring binders, to build a streamlined, cost-cutting culture.

Born in Houston, Reichardt started working at age 12 in a lumber yard and enlisted in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He later earned a degree in economics at USC, was named Outstanding Alumnus of the Year by the USC Marshall School of Business in 1979 and served on the USC Board of Trustees starting in 1989. He also served as a trustee for the University of San Francisco and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Reichardt died July 13 at age 86. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Patricia, as well as three children and six grandchildren.

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family class notes Eric Cheng JD ’10 (LAW) is partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Berna Anat ’11 (SCJ) is the teen community lead at Instagram. She was selected to co-host a fireside chat with diplomat Madeleine Albright in celebration of International Women’s Day. Peter Myers MM ’10, GCRT ’13 (MUS) is the associate principal cello of the San Francisco Opera.

Grant Tunkel ’10 (LAS/SCJ) joined BAMTech, the spinoff of MLB Advanced Media, as an editorial producer for the PGA Tour live streaming golf platform.

John Wie MA ’11 (SCJ) works for Sony Santa Monica as the community manager for projects such as God of War, Bound and PaRappa the Rapper Remastered.

Michelle Toh ’15 (SCJ) is the first Hong Kong editor at Fortune magazine. She serves as a breaking news and audience engagement editor for Fortune and Time.

Brandon Kennedy JD ’12 (LAW) joined the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement as assistant chief counsel.

Grace Korkunis ’16 (DRA) started TR!FECTA, a Los Angeles-based sketch comedy group, with Dom Bournes ’16 (DRA), Marc Rosenzweig ’16 (DRA), LaRose Washington ’16 (DRA) (LAS), Katie Baker ’16 (DRA), Kevin Phan ’16 (DRA), Portia Henry-Warren ’16 (DRA), Sheridan Pierce ’15 (SCA), Isaac Jay ’15 (DRA) and Jay Lee ’15 (DRA/LAS).

Jason Lo MM ’12 (MUS) and Micah Wright DMA ’15 (MUS) won the Music Teachers National Association’s Young Artist Woodwind State Competition. They performed in the regional competition in Honolulu.

Jenna Byron ’13 (SCJ) launched Jennarate, an outsourced sales service for small and mid-sized companies.

Yingying Wu JD ’16 (LAW) was hired as an associate at Autotelic Inc.

M A R R I A G E S Cem Carak ’13, MS ’13 (ENG) works on WhatTuDu, a mobile app that can help people discover nearby activities.

Zury Ruiz MFA ’13 (DRA) had a staged reading of her play What a Piece of Work is Man, which was developed at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. The reading was part of the Ensemble Studio Theatre-Los Angeles Winterfest.

T R O J A N

T R I B U T E

Linda Bridges A longtime journalist, author and voice of the conservative movement, Linda Bridges ’70 (LAS) served more than four decades on the editorial staff of the National Review. While a junior at USC, Bridges wrote a letter to the magazine pointing out what she believed to be a grammatical error. The letter caught the eye of founder William F. Buckley, who later offered her a summer assistant position.

Bridges would go on to serve as senior editor, editor-at-large and managing editor for the publication, and also became a personal assistant and editor to Buckley, her longtime mentor. She co-wrote two books, The Art of Persuasion: A National Review Rhetoric for Writers, and Strictly Right: William F. Buckley Jr. and the American Conservative Movement.

She died on March 26 at age 67.

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Mary Elizabeth Naquin ’99 (ENG) and Keith Robert Frost.

José Galván ’04 (LAS) and Candice Cabral.

Catherine Melanie Kwan ’10 (GRN) and Jason Philip Yoong ’10 (SCJ).

Jelena Grozdanich ’14 (SCJ) was promoted to specialist for film/TV/emerging media music licensing at Sony Music.

B I R T H S

Paul D. Pearigen MMM ’14 (BUS), a U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, assumed command of Navy Medicine West.

Leighton Loo ’94 (ACC) and Tiffany (Hu) Loo MPP ’02 (SPP) a daughter, Kaia Natalie.

She joins sister Leia Karen.

Zheng Yang GCRT ’14, MS ’15, PhD ’16 (ENG) has been named one of 10 2017 “New Faces of Civil Engineering Professionals” by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

He is a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University.

Matt Fleishman ’01 (BUS) and Tamara (Stoffels) Fleishman ’01 (LAS), a son, Michael Christopher.

Tara Campbell ’15 (LAS/SCJ), GRCT ’16 (SPP) was elected to the Yorba Linda City Council in California.

Katie Gavin ’15 (MUS), Naomi McPherson ’15 (LAS) and Josette Maskin ’16 (MUS), members of MUNA, were featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing two songs from the album About U.

Jennifer (Peterson) Cramer ’02 (EDU) and Travis Cramer ’03 (BUS), daughters, Felicity and Journey.

Edward Hynes ’08 (LAS) and Laura Lefkow, a daughter, Rose Joan.

Kristen Kavanaugh MSW ’12 (SSW) and Chloe Schornick Kavanaugh, a son, Wesley Rhys Kavanaugh.

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Do you have news to share? Send it along with your name, school and class year to classnotes@ usc.edu and it may appear in a future issue.

I N

M E M O R I A M

Stanley Camilla Benson VIltz, ’65 (LAS), MPA ’74 (SPP) of Los Angeles; July 14, 2016.

Michael Cervantes ’04 (LAS), MPW ’06 (LAS) of Los Angeles; Oct. 24, 2017, at the age of 35.

Larry R. Bemis ’66 (BUS) of Newport Beach, California; May 10, 2016 at the age of 71.

Jacqueline Gail Henderson Wiedel ’07 (DRA/ENG); Jan. 8, 2017, at the age of 33.

A LU M N I Jacob Dekema ’37 (ENG) of La Jolla, California, at the age of 101.

Miriam Awenius '43 (EDU), of Martinez, California; Jan. 26, 2017, at the age of 95.

Marjorie Zickfeld ’45 (EDU) of Los Angeles; Jan. 30, 2017, at the age of 92.

John Herbert Wachtler ’48 (BUS), MS ’53 (EDU) of Sherman Oaks, California; Feb. 25, 2017, at the age of 95.

Stanley Charles Nelson ’50 (ENG) on Feb. 20, 2017.

Emrick Webb ’50 (ENG) of Carlsbad, California; Feb. 3, 2017, at the age of 90.

Robert C. Blackmore ’51 (BUS) of Old Greenwich, Connecticut; March 9, 2017, at the age of 90.

Edward C. Hohmann Jr. ’66 (ENG), PhD ’71 (ENG) of Glendora, California; Feb. 11, 2017 at the age of 72.

Sharon Louise Tobin MSW ’68 (SSW) of Clay, Michigan; March 16, 2017, at the age of 76.

Edward Pape ML ’09 (SPP), GCRT ’11 (SPP), DPP ’12 (SPP) of Valencia, California; Dec. 10, 2016, at the age of 47.

L E G E N D

LAS

James Bland Lawrence ’70 (LAS) of Greenville, Texas; Jan. 4, 2016, at the age of 69.

Leroy Robert Small PhD ’72 (EDU) of Irvine, California; March 4, 2017, at the age of 85.

Dean Stanley Butchart ’73 (LAS), PharmD ’77 (PHM); March 12, 2017, at the age of 65.

ACC ARC BUS SCA SCJ

USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences USC Leventhal School of Accounting USC School of Architecture USC Marshall School of Business USC School of Cinematic Arts USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

DNC DEN DRA EDU ENG ART GRN LAW MED MUS OST

USC Kaufman School of Dance Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC USC School of Dramatic Arts USC Rossier School of Education USC Viterbi School of Engineering USC Roski School of Art and Design USC Davis School of Gerontology USC Gould School of Law Keck School of Medicine of USC USC Thornton School of Music USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy

Gene Jaque ’51 (BUS) of Poway, California; Feb. 26, 2017, at the age of 91.

Dorie Gradwohl MSW ’77 (SSW) of Marina del Rey, California; March 5, 2017, at the age of 82.

Clyde Reynolds ’51 (MUS), Canoga Park, California; Nov. 10, 2016, at the age of 93.

Martin Francis King Jr. ’78 (SPP) of San Francisco; Jan. 14, 2017, at the age of 60.

Gilbert B. Siegel ’52, MS ’57 (SPP) of Los Angeles; Oct. 18, 2016, at the age of 86.

Thomas M. Konzem PharmD ’79 (PHM) of Prescott, Arizona; Dec. 4, 2016, at the age of 72.

PHM BPT

Mary Lee (McCormick) Scheidt ’56 (BUS) of San Rafael, California, Dec. 1, 2016, at the age of 82.

USC School of Pharmacy Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy

Cynthia Ibrahim MSW ’80 (SSW) of Los Angeles; Jan. 2, 2017, at the age of 81.

SPP SSW

USC Price School of Public Policy USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work

Paul Joseph Breitman ’57 (LAS), MD ’60 (MED) of Whittier, California; Feb. 15, 2017, at the age of 85.

Ralph Morton MM ’80, DMA ’86 (MUS) of Indooroopilly, Brisbane, Australia; Feb. 20, 2016, at the age of 67.

Michael Chumo Jr. ’59 (LAS) of Edmond, Oklahoma; Aug. 30, 2016, at the age of 78.

Kendall Feeney ’81 (MUS), MM ’84 (MUS) of Spokane Valley, Washington; March 5, 2017, at the age of 58.

Leigh Kaplan MA ’63 (MUS), of Arroyo Grande, California; Nov. 22, 2016, at the age of 79.

Nick Divito ’99 (SCJ) of New York; March 8, 2017, at the age of 42.

William B. Leach JD ’63 (LAW) of Arizona; March 22, 2017.

Samuel Park MA ’03 (LAS), PhD ’06 (LAS) of Chicago; Apr. 1, 2017, at the age of 41.

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Matt DeGrushe, Michelle Dumas, James Feigert, Harmony Frederick, Wendy Gragg, Katherine Griffiths, Leticia Lozoya, Mike McNulty, Jane Ong, Kristi Patton, Stacey Wang Rizzo, Nicole Stark and Deann Webb contributed to this section.

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now and again

Elizabeth Holmes Fisher, founder of the USC Fisher Museum of Art and the first woman elected to the USC Board of Trustees, had a humble start when she moved to California.

She and her husband arrived from South Dakota with $25 to their names. Eventually a fortuitous investment in Long Beach oil wells made the couple a fortune, enabling her to fulfill a lifelong passion for art.

Fisher became an avid collector and focused on 17th-century Dutch and Flemish work, 18th-century British portraiture and 19th-century American landscapes. A generous gift to USC in 1937 established a home for much of her collection: the USC Fisher Museum of Art.

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The inset photo was taken about two decades after the museum’s 1939 founding, and just a few years after Fisher’s death in 1955. In all, Fisher donated 74 pieces to “help students and the public gain an appreciation of the works of great masters.”

Today the museum houses more than 1,800 objects spanning five centuries, including works

by Winslow Homer, Gustave Courbet and Thomas Gainsborough. The museum takes part in the city-wide Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA through January 2018, with a spotlight on artist James hd Brown’s work in Mexico (for details, visit fisher.usc.edu).

PHOTO BY DUSTIN SNIPES

An Eye for Art

Have a photo to share? Send it to 3434 S. Grand Ave., CAL 140, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-2818 or magazines@usc.edu.

ELISA HUANG

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Keck Medical Center of USC recognized as a top 10 California hospital — once again

KeckMedicine.org

(800) USC-CARE © 2017 Keck Medicine of USC

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

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