Pepperdine University history

By 1957, when M. Norvel Young was named president, the young college faced serious problems, not least of which was the high cost of expansion in South Los Angeles.

In 1969, William S. Banowsky became Chancellor of Pepperdine and managed to raise the necessary funds for the Malibu campus primarily through a gift of 138 acres of land at the foot of Malibu Canyon by Malibu's Adamson-Rindge family and a substantial contribution by Mrs.

Founded in 1969, the Graziadio Business School at Pepperdine University is dedicated to shaping leaders who will contribute to the betterment of business practice.

In 1969 Pepperdine College reorganized the department of business into its separate School of Business and it accepted an offer to acquire the Orange University College of Law.

In 1970, it became Pepperdine University when a School of Law was added and the business and education departments were reorganized as separate schools.

The university retained and continued to expand its original Vermont Avenue campus, building a new academic building there in 1970, and redesigning the curriculum to serve its more urban setting.

Then Pepperdine vice president William S. Banowsky (later to succeed President Young in 1971) was installed as chancellor of the infant Malibu Campus.

Pepperdine administrators used these expansions as justification to change the institution's name to Pepperdine University in 1971.

In 1981 the Psychology Division from the Los Angeles Campus was merged into the School of Education now located at Pepperdine University Plaza, and one year later the school was renamed the Graduate School of Education and Psychology ("GSEP" as it is known for short in the Pepperdine community).

In 1985 White effectively resigned from his appointment and worked with the Pepperdine regents (formerly trustees) in the year prior to eventually name successor David Davenport as sixth president of the University.

In 1986 several major academic changes occurred: GSEP made its first offering of the doctor of psychology (Psy.D.) degree; the School of Business and Management initiated a residential MBA program on the Malibu campus, and the School of Law inaugurated the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution.

Within Pepperdine's international programs, experimental London study abroad programs at Seaver and at the law school were proving successful, and the Florence summer study program for Seaver was gearing up for full-year operation in fall 1987.

Seaver College added an undergraduate major in international business, and in addition to the master of international business established in 1989, the business school expanded the MBA with an international study track.

Graziadio, George 1996 October 17

In 2003 the law school offered the University's first master of laws (LLM) degree in dispute resolution.

The Malibu campus itself was expanded by the construction of the 50.4 acres (20.4 ha) Drescher Graduate Campus, which was completed in 2003 under the supervision of president Andrew K. Benton.

In 2008 Pepperdine established a campus in Washington, DC, which serves as home base for Seaver and Caruso students engaged in internships in the nation’s capital and as an alternative venue for seminars and short-term programs.

In emotional contrast, the primary outdoor space on the Malibu campus was reimagined and dedicated in 2009 as Mullin Town Square, a festive central piazza offering a focal point for community engagement and student life.

By 2010 the impact of the recession of the previous decade was beginning to turn around, but charitable giving nationally had not recovered to pre-recession figures.

In 2011 the University nonetheless publicly launched the Campaign for Pepperdine.

The Malibu campus saw a number of upgrades over the course of the teens, including a significant makeover of the Runnels Sports and Recreation Village in 2013, which gained a new “focus subfloor system” for the basketball court, expansion of the soccer field, and improvements to the pool.

In total the campaign generated more than $470 million ($20 million over the initial goal) by its conclusion at the end of 2014.

To further academic rigor and entrepreneurship at the University, President Benton introduced the inaugural Waves of Innovation program in 2014.

Payson Library received a complete renovation in 2017, gaining more open spaces and more casual seating, as well as the installation of the Genesis Lab, a digital makerspace with 3D printers and virtual reality gear.

On November 7, 2018, Seaver first-year student Alaina Housley was killed, along with 12 other individuals, in a mass shooting at the nearby Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks.

The University also joined the ranks of colleges sharing their communities’ ideas and visions by hosting the first annual TedXPepperdineU, led and run by students, in 2019.

The School of Business and Management was renamed the Graziadio Business School to honor a gift of $15 million from real estate developer George L. Graziadio Jr., and in 2019 the School of Law was renamed the Caruso School of Law after a pledge of $50 million from alumnus Rick J. Caruso.