University of Southern California The University of Southern California (also known as USC or Southern Cal), Southern California's oldest private research university, is located in the urban center of Los Angeles, California. University of Southern California University of Southern California Logo (Trademark of USC) Motto Palmam qui meruit ferat (Latin, "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"). Established 1880 School type Private President Steven B. Sample Location Los Angeles, CA, USA Enrollment 16,000 undergraduate, 15,000 graduate Faculty 4,300 Endowment US$2.85 Billion Campus Urban, 155 acres Sports teams Trojans Website www.usc.edu Overview Founded in 1880 by three wealthy Los Angeles residents as a Methodist University, it has grown to international prominence. The university opened with an enrollment of 53 students and a faculty of 10. Its first graduating class in 1884 was a class of three - two men and a woman valedictorian. The University is no longer a Methodist institution; it is currently not religiously affiliated. USC has grown substantially since its founding. Besides its main campus ("University Park Campus"), which lies about 2 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, the university includes the Health Sciences Campus about 2 miles northeast of downtown and the Information Sciences Institute in Marina del Rey. The School of Public Policy and Development runs a satellite campus in Sacramento, California. Another satellite campus in Washington, D.C. was closed down in 2002. Pleasant in appearance (it stood in for Harvard in the movie Legally Blonde), the University Park campus is adjacent to South Central Los Angeles, and located 2 miles south of Downtown. The neighborhoods surrounding the campus are among the most culturally vibrant and historically significant in the city. Filled with neighbors, students, faculty, parents, and professionals who care about each other and their neighborhood, this culturally diverse, living laboratory of community collaboration has become the model for urban revitalization. USC's role in making visible and sustained improvements in the crime-plagued neighborhoods surrounding both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses earned it the distinction of College of the Year 2000 by TIME magazine and The Princeton Review. Roughly half of the university's students volunteer in community-service programs in neighborhoods around campus and throughout Los Angeles. USC has an endowment of $2.1 billion, largely as a result of an impressive fundraising campaign over the last several years by current University President Steven B. Sample. Demographics The following figures are accurate as of the 2003-2004 academic year. USC has a total enrollment of about 31,000 students, 16,000 undergraduates, and 15,000 graduates. There are currently about 4,300 faculty and 14,000 support staff. There are roughly 180,000 living USC alumni. The university has attracted more international students over the years than any other American university. Currently, about 10 percent of USC's students represent over 115 countries. The USC Alumni Association has more than 200,000 current members. The male:female ratio at USC is 1:1, and about 1/3 of students come from out of state. Ethnic breakdown is: 48% Caucasian 22% Asian 13% Hispanic 7% African-American 1% Native American Academics The school is best known for its professional schools in law, film, medicine, business, engineering and journalism. Annenberg, the journalism school, holds its own among the best in the nation, but it has adopted a fairly grueling convergence core curriculum that requires students to devote themselves equally to print, broadcast and online media for the first year of study. While this approach promises a breadth of knowledge across various journalistic media, many students resent being compelled to devote so much time and energy to disciplines they aren't interested in pursuing. On the other hand, USC's Annenberg School of Journalism has a massive endowment, and the school is generous with promising students. On March 2, 2004, the USC School of Engineering, headed by Dean Max Nikias, was renamed to the Viterbi School of Engineering. This was done to honor Qualcomm founder Andrew Viterbi and his wife Erna, who had recently donated $52 million to the school. According to the USC website, this gift was "the largest ever to rename an existing school of engineering." The 2005 issue of America's Best Colleges ranked USC as the 30th best school in the nation, leaving it 5 places behind its chief public school rival, UCLA. It also ranked the Marshall School of Business as #9 in the nation, while the Viterbi School of Engineering took #6. Academic subdivisions USC's academic departments fall either under the general liberal arts and sciences banner of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences for undergraduates or of The Graduate School for graduates, or under one of the university's 18 professional schools. A full listing of academic subdivisions follows alphabetically by subject: The College of Letters, Arts and Sciences The Graduate School The Professional Schools School of Architecture Marshall School of Business Leventhal School of Accounting School of Cinema-Television Annenberg School for Communication School of Dentistry Rossier School of Education Viterbi School of Engineering School of Fine Arts Davis School of Gerontology Independent Health Professions USC Law School Keck School of Medicine Thornton School of Music School of Pharmacy School of Policy, Planning, and Development School of Social Work School of Theatre Areas of study USC offers 77 majors, 101 minors, and 139 distinct areas of graduate study. The most popular majors are Business Administration, Communications, and Psychology. USC grades on a standard 4.0 scale, with +0.3 for a "plus" grade, and -0.3 for a "minus" grade. USC does not award the grade A+. Athletics USC logo USC participates in the NCAA Division I-A Pacific Ten Conference. Their traditional rival is UCLA across many sports, and Notre Dame in football (this is considered the greatest cross-country rivalry in college football). There have been more Trojans in the Olympics than students from any other American university. Trojan men's teams are tops in the nation in NCAA championships with 72 - more than any other university. And the football team has been voted national champions 10 times. Overall, USC's men have won 83 national team titles. Men's NCAA National Title Football (10) Baseball (12) - Most by any university Gymnastics (1) Indoor Track & Field (2) Swimming & Diving (9) Tennis (16) Track & Field (26) Volleyball (4) Water Polo (2) Women's NCAA National Title Basketball (2) Swimming & Diving (1) Tennis (2) Track & Field (1) Volleyball (3) Water Polo (2) Golf (1) USC is also known for its marching band, which calls itself "The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe." This band performed in the 1932 and 1984 summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, in addition to their countless appearances in movies, television shows, and performances with other renowned musicians. Most recently, the band produced an instrumental version of the popular song "Hit That" by The Offspring (whose lead singer is a USC alum), and it appeared with Outkast at the 2004 Grammy Awards in their hit song "Hey Ya!". The band was notable in the late 70's for it's appearance on the title track of the 1979 Fleetwood Mac album Tusk, which the band appears on, and which won the band many awards. Administration The George Finley Bovard Administration Building USC is a private corporation, and is ultimately controlled by a Board of Trustees, with roughly 50 voting members and several Life Trustees, Honorary Trustees, and Trustees Emeritus who do not vote. Voting members of the Board of Trustees are elected for five year terms. One fifth of the Trustees stand for re-election each year, and votes are cast only by the Trustees not standing for election. Trustees tend to be high-ranking executives of large corporations (both domestic and international), successful alumni, members of the upper echelons of university administration or some combination of the three. University administration consists of a President, a Provost, several Vice Presidents of various departments, a Treasurer, a Chief Information Officer, and an Athletic Director. As of the beginning of 2004, the President is Steven B. Sample, and the Provost is Lloyd Armstrong, Jr. The College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, The Graduate School, and the 18 Professional Schools are each lead by an Academic Dean. USC also occasionally awards emeritus titles to former administrators. There are currently six Administrators Emeritus. Notable USC Faculty Leonard M. Adleman, Co-Inventor of RSA, Turing Award laureate Warren Bennis, Leadership Guru T.C. Boyle, Novelist George Olah, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Barry Boehm Irving S. Reed, Inventor of Reed-Solomon Code Terence Blanchard, jazz trumpeter Notable USC Alumni Academia Dr. James Dobson - Psychologist and Author Andrew Viterbi - Inventor of the Viterbi algorithm, co-founder of Qualcomm and benefactor of the Viterbi School of Engineering Arts and Media George Lucas - Film Director Ron Howard - Film Director Robert Zemeckis - Film Director Bryan Singer - Film Director John Singleton - Film Director James Ivory - Film Director Stephen Sommers - Film Director John Milius - Film Director/Screenwriter Robert Rodat - Screenwriter Conrad Hall - Cinematographer Frank Gehry - Architect Thom Mayne - Architect (principal of Morphosis) Marilyn Horne - Opera Singer Michael Tilson Thomas - Symphony Conductor James Horner - Composer John Wayne - Actor LeVar Burton - Actor Ally Sheedy - Actress Will Ferrell - Actor and Comedian John Ritter - Actor Samantha Cowles-Eagan - Actress Ke Huy Quan - Actor and stuntman Dexter Holland - Musican Art Buchwald - Author and Columnist Jerome Lawrence - Playwright Business David Bohnett- Founder and former CEO of Geocities.com Charles Price- Chairman and CEO of Citigroup Paul Orfalea- Founder of Kinko's Sol Price- Founder of Price Club Athletics Mark McGwire - Professional Baseball Player Tom Seaver - Professional Baseball Player Randy Johnson - Professional Baseball Player Mark Prior - Professional Baseball Player Barry Zito - Professional Baseball Player Lisa Leslie - Professional Woman's Basketball Player Carson Palmer - Heisman Trophy winner and Professional Football Player Mike Garrett - Heisman Trophy winner and Former Professional Football Player Charles White - Heisman Trophy winner and Former Professional Football Player O.J. Simpson - Heisman Trophy winner and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen - Heisman Trophy winner and Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford - Pro Football Hall of Famer, TV Analyst Lynn Swann - Pro Football Hall of Famer, TV Analyst Bob Seagren - Olympic Champion pole vaulter Charles Dumas - Olympic Champion high jumper Lenny Krayzelburg - Olympic Champion swimming Kaitlin Sandeno - Olympic Champion swimming Politics and Government Mary Bono - Member of the United States House of Representatives Warren Christopher - Former United States Secretary of State Chris Cox - Member of the United States House of Representatives Jim Gibbons - Member of the United States House of Representatives Glenard P. Lipscomb - Former Member of the United States House of Representatives Juanita Millender-McDonald - Member of the United States House of Representatives Richard Perle - Former Assistant United States Secretary of Defense Dana Rohrabacher - Member of the United States House of Representatives Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf - United States Army Four Star General Hilda Solis - Member of the United States House of Representatives Robert A. Underwood - Former Delegate from Guam to the United States House of Representatives Other Neil Armstrong - Astronaut Karol J. Bobko - Astronaut Charles F. Bolden, Jr. - Astronaut Gerald P. Carr - Astronaut Brian Duffy - Astronaut Jerry M. Linenger - Astronaut Carlos I. Noriega - Astronaut Pat Nixon - Former First Lady Joseph Wapner - Judge of The People's Court External links University of Southern California Official Southern Cal athletics site Map of USC's University Park Campus (400k GIF) Tommy Trojan's live camera USC Athletic Hall of Fame inductees (1994-2005) FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Southern_California