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California Southern University history
California Southern University company history timeline
The university was established in California on December 27, 1978, by Doctor Donald Hecht as a traditional correspondence school, and received its initial approval to offer degree programs from the California Department of Education.
1979: Fleetwood Mac invites the Trojan Marching Band to perform on the title song for the album “Tusk,” which becomes the band’s first platinum album. +
1981: USC's Doheny Memorial Library celebrates the acquisition of its 2 millionth volume.
1982: USC inaugurates the annual Academic Honors Convocation to “honor the excellence that is in our midst.”
1984: The XXIIIrd Olympiad comes to Los Angeles, and University Park campus is the site of the largest Olympic Village.
1986: USC launches the Freshman Seminars, which address broad topics in contemporary research and scholarship.
1987: With the opening of a Carl’s Jr. restaurant on campus, USC becomes the first United States institution of higher education to own and operate a fast-food franchise.
1989: USC becomes the first university in the world to offer a doctorate in occupational science.
1990: President James H. Zumberge announces that “The Campaign for USC” has raised $641.6 million and added more than a dozen new buildings.
1993: USC launches the eight-year Baccalaureate/M.D. Program, a partnership between the college and the medical school.
1995: USC launches Friends and Neighbors Service Day, an annual “volunteer blitz” that teams students and community residents to clean up local neighborhoods.
1998: Alfred Mann gives $112.5 million to establish the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering at USC.
On July 1, 1999 university status was achieved when Southern California College registered with the Secretary of State's Office as Vanguard University of Southern California and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as several certificate programs.
1999: In appreciation for a $110 million gift, USC's medical school is renamed the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
2000: USC launches the Institute for Creative Technologies, a partnership between the university, the United States Army and the entertainment industry. +
2001: USC sponsors its first international conference, convened in Hong Kong.
2003: The United States Department of Homeland Security selects USC as its first Homeland Security Center of Excellence.
2006: The university announces the creation of the USC United States-China Institute. +
By 2007, the University was among the first to offer an all-online format.
2008: USC is ranked highly in the first national “Great Colleges to Work For” poll by The Chronicle of Higher Education. +
2009: USC's ICT and School of Social Work launch a military social work and veteran services program, the first of its kind at a research university. +
2011: USC receives $200 million - the largest single gift in its history to date - from Dana and David Dornsife.
2011: University Professor and historian Kevin Starr is inducted into the California Hall of Fame.
2013: Campus health gets an upgrade as the five-story, 101,000-square-foot USC Engemann Student Health Center opens. +
2014: A gift from Ronnie Chan founds the USC Mrs.
2016: USC alumni Oscar De Los Santos '15 and Jung Kian Ng B.S., M.S. ME ’14 were among 32 Americans who were awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford.
2016: For the first time ever, women outnumbered men in USC's graduate video game design program - ranked #1 by Princeton Review for game design.
2019: The Lord Foundation of California, which supports faculty research and teaching at USC, receives $260 million from the sale of LORD Corp.
2021: USC hires Christopher Manning as its first chief inclusion and diversity officer.
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California Southern University competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walden University | 1972 | $8.1M | 100 | 1 |
| The National Graduate School of Quality Management | 1993 | $5.0M | 20 | - |
| Trident University International | 1998 | $9.2M | 226 | - |
| Cleary University | 1883 | $10.0M | 200 | 49 |
| Grand Canyon University | 1949 | $1.0B | 6,977 | 340 |
| Capella University | 1993 | $58.0M | 2,000 | 3 |
| California Coast University | 1973 | $5.0M | 20 | 14 |
| University of Southern California | 1880 | $89.0M | 35,000 | 493 |
| American Public University System | 1991 | $31.0M | 1,866 | 15 |
| Caribbean University PR | 1969 | $14.0M | 309 | - |
California Southern University history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of California Southern University, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about California Southern University. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at California Southern University. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by California Southern University. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of California Southern University and its employees or that of Zippia.
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