History Station: Endowing the Future
Without the generosity of farsighted donors, USC would never have come into being. Without the continued support of private philanthropy, it would never have become an internationally renowned research university. In the 1960s, the Ford Foundation made a $6.5 million challenge grant to USC, which the university had to match 3-to-1 in three years. The university raised the $19.5 million in just 15 months — a feat it surpassed with a second Ford Foundation grant two years later. In 1993, USC received what was then the largest cash gift in the history of higher education: $120 million from Ambassador Walter Annenberg. This station explores the role that private support has played in USC’s growth and maturation. Sponsors: Tom and Linda Dean Maudlin