University of Southern California Launches Institute on State, Global Policy
University of Southern California Launches Institute on State, Global Policy
The University of Southern California has announced a new state and global policy institute to promote bipartisan solutions to global challenges in the areas of education, the environment, fiscal and economic policy, health and wellness, and political reform.
To be housed at USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy, the institute will be supported by a lead gift of $20 million from former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that includes a personal donation as well as contributions from other donors, the Los Angeles Times reports. Co-led by Bonnie Reiss and Nancy Staudt, the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy will host its first public event, a panel discussion of the importance of post-partisanship in the modern policymaking world, on September 24.
The institute's board of advisors will include Henry Cisneros, a former mayor of San Antonio who went on to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration; Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico; George Shultz, economist, statesman, and U.S. secretary of state from 1982 to 1989; and Kandeh K. Yumkella, director-general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. In addition to chairing the board of advisors, Schwarzenegger also will serve as the first Governor Downey Professor of State and Global Policy at USC.
"One of the great lessons I learned as governor of California was that the best solutions to common problems could only be found when each side was willing to engage thoughtfully and respectfully with each other," said Schwarzenegger. "This institute is dedicated to promoting a new era of post-partisanship, where solutions are the result of intelligent and civil discussion between people with deeply held principles who understand the need to work through their disagreements to achieve real solutions. Knowing USC's reputation as one of the nation's leading policy schools, I could think of no better home for this institute."
| 
