SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSITY OF

(USC ) private, coeducational institution of higher education in Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. It comprises the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, the Graduate School, and 18 professional schools. The university offers undergraduate degrees in about 80 fields and graduate and professional degrees in about 125 disciplines. It is especially well known for its degree programs in film, law, music, business, engineering, and social work. USC is one of the largest and best-funded research universities in the United States. It operates more than 100 research institutes, including the National Center for Integrated Photonic Technology, the Southern California Earthquake Center, the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems, and the Population Research Laboratory. The campus contains about 20 libraries, with more than 5 million documents, including a notable cinema collection. In addition to the main University Park campus, the university includes a Health Sciences campus in northeast Los Angeles and satellite campuses at Irvine, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C. There is a marine science centre on Santa Catalina Island. Total enrollment is approximately 28,000 students. The University of Southern California was incorporated by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1880; it opened the same year. After his arrival in 1917, philosopher Ralph Tyler Flewelling established USC as a bastion of Personalism. In the 1920s the university created one of the nation's first schools of international relations and of public administration, as well as a pioneer program in cinematography. The first doctorate degree was awarded in 1923. The university officially became nonsectarian in 1926. Architect Konrad Wachsmann joined the faculty in 1964 and initiated a program in building science. The university has a distinguished history of athletic programs, producing more national champions in the National Collegiate Athletic Association and more Olympic athletes than any other university. Among the athletes who attended USC are Earle Meadows, Bill Sefton, Charlie Paddock, Parry O'Brien, Bill Sharman, and O.J. Simpson. Other alumni include General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, composer Charles Wakefield Cadman, actor John Wayne, director Jos Quintero, and filmmaker George Lucas.