Steven B. Sample (1991-present)

Steven B. Sample, the tenth president of the University of Southern California, inaugurated his tenure by establishing five priorities for USC during the 1990s. They include strengthening the quality of undergraduate education, developing the Health Sciences Campus into a world-renowned center of excellence in clinical research and care, recruiting a larger number of the best doctoral and post-doctoral students, expanding USC's tradition of public service by focusing on the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the two campuses, and improving the quality of USC programs and services while conserving resources.

Since Sample took office, USC has marked several major milestones. Chemistry Professor George Olah, director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, became the first USC faculty member to win a Nobel Prize. The university enrolled the most academically talented freshman class in its history, topped the $200 million mark in sponsored research for the first time and began a comprehensive, university-wide strategic planning process designed to take USC to the next level of academic excellence. It also recorded its biggest fund-raising year ever and was the recipient of the largest single cash gift in the history of higher education - $120 million from Ambassador Walter Annenberg to create the Annenberg Center for Communication. In addition, several important new facilities have opened including the USC University Hospital, McAlister Academic Resource Center in Heritage Hall, the W.M. Keck Foundation Photonics Research Laboratory and the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Library; and construction began on the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center expansion project, which is scheduled for completion in early fall 1995.

Sample has had a distinguished career that includes teaching and administration as well as research and its practical application. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sample served on the faculty at Purdue University, then held administrative posts on the Illinois Board of Higher Education and at the University of Nebraska before assuming the presidency of the State University of New York at Buffalo. An award-winning scientist and inventor, Sample has consulted extensively for industrial firms. His achievements were recognized in 1993 with Purdue University's prestigious Outstanding Electrical Engineering Award.

Throughout his career, Sample has continued to teach. During his first year at USC, he co-taught a freshman seminar, "Science and Technology in Human Culture," and he has since taught junior-level classes in electrical engineering. Sample has also been involved in community projects, taking an active role in a number of business, civic and social service organizations. The National Council of Christians and Jews of Buffalo, N.Y., recognized him in 1991 for his civic leadership and humanitarianism. An advocate of reform in the nation's public elementary and secondary schools, Sample chaired the Los Angeles Metropolitan Project (LAMP), a group of community and education leaders which won a $53 million challenge grant from Ambassador Walter Annenberg to accelerate local school improvement efforts. He currently serves on the board of LAMP, as well as on the boards of Rebuild L.A. (RLA), the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now (LEARN), Project California of the California Council on Science and Technology, the Coalition of 100 of Los Angeles, Galaxy Classroom, and the Council on Competitiveness.

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