University of Southern California Receives $200 Million Gift
University of Southern California Receives $200 Million Gift
The University of Southern California has announced a $200 million gift from longtime donors Dana and David Dornsife.
The gift — the largest in USC history — will provide unrestricted endowment support for the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences and will also be used to create the Dornsife Scholars Program, which will recognize outstanding graduating seniors who pursue scholarly inquiry into the world's most pressing social issues. The College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences is the largest and oldest of all the USC schools and boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 784 faculty, thirty-three academic departments, and thirty-one research centers and institutes.
A USC alumnus ('65) and board member, David Dornsife is chairman of the Herrick Corporation, a California-based steel fabricator and contractor. For many years, he and his wife, the founder and president of the Lazarex Cancer Foundation, have supported the USC Brain and Creativity Institute and the school's neuroscience program, both housed at the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.
"The Dornsifes are an extraordinary couple, and their commitment to improving our world will be a permanent source of inspiration for our faculty, students, staff, and alumni," said Howard Gillman, dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "Dana and David's gift demonstrates their deep understanding of a basic truth — that all human progress and enlightenment rest on a firm foundation of outstanding scholarly inquiry across traditional and emerging fields within letters, arts, and sciences."
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