Commencement Ceremonies at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GRADUATES! The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's commencement ceremony with keynote by Austin Beutner. In addition to celebrating our graduates’ many accomplishments, we were excited to welcome this year’s commencement speaker, Austin Beutner. Austin Beutner is the former Publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, and the first Publisher to serve in both roles. Earlier in his career, he worked at The Blackstone Group, and at age 29 became the firm’s youngest partner. He left Blackstone to serve in the U.S. government, where he led efforts to help Russia transition to a market economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He went on to found Evercore Partners and as President and Co-CEO built the firm into one of the leading independent investment banks in the world. In 2010, he accepted a $1 annual salary to serve as First Deputy Mayor and Jobs Czar for the City of Los Angeles. He currently serves on the Boards of CalArts, The California Nature Conservancy, The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education, the Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation, the National Park Foundation, the Pacific Council on International Relations and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation; and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2012, he created Vision To Learn, a nonprofit that provides free eyeglasses to children in low-income communities in California, Delaware, Hawaii and Iowa.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GRADUATES! The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's commencement ceremony with keynote by Curtis Conway. In addition to celebrating our graduates’ many accomplishments, we are excited to welcome commencement speaker Curtis Conway. Conway received his undergraduate degree from Price in 2001. He went on to a successful 12-year NFL career, and is currently an in-studio football analyst for multiple broadcast stations. Beyond these professional accomplishments, Conway embodies the mission of the Price School, and he exemplifies the type of graduate who represents our mission and values in the larger world. Conway was born here in Los Angeles, just a few blocks from the USC campus. He worked hard as a high school student to earn a scholarship to USC, and in so doing, became the first in his family to pursue higher education. He is deeply committed to serving the community, working with a number of nonprofit organizations including Feeding America and Fitness for Kids. Additionally, he annually hosts athletic camps at the USC Coliseum promoting the value of education to underserved inner-city youth, and works with young men of color and their parents to help students prepare for and succeed at college. Curtis Conway is an alumnus who not only achieved great success in professional sports and broadcasting, but who used the education and training he received at Price to invest in and better the community where he grew up. We are very proud to have him as our commencement speaker this year, and we look forward to hearing his inspiring address.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE GRADUATES! The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's commencement ceremony keynote by Chris Van Gorder. As president and CEO of Scripps Health since 2000, Chris Van Gorder has been instrumental in positioning Scripps among the nation's foremost health care institutions. Now he is leading the restructure of the $2.3 billion, integrated health system to best prepare for the changes of health care reform. Board certified in health care management and an American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Fellow, in 2010 he served as Chairman of ACHE, an international professional society of more than 40,000 health care executives who lead hospitals, health care systems and other health care organizations. As chairman, he provided leadership for an established network of more than 80 ACHE chapters that provide local access to networking, education and career development. ACHE is also known for its prestigious FACHE credential, signifying board certification in health care management. At Scripps Health, Van Gorder oversees all functions of the integrated health system, including its five acute-care hospital campuses, dozens of outpatient centers throughout San Diego County, and a regional home health service. More than 13,000 employees and 2,600 affiliated physicians provide care at Scripps, which has made the Fortune magazine "100 Best Hospitals to Work For" list for four consecutive years. This year it was named by AARP as the No. 1 employer in the nation for workers 50 and older -- the first California-based company to take top honors. Van Gorder received his master's degree in public administration/health services administration at the University of Southern California, completed the Wharton CEO Program at the University of Pennsylvania and earned his bachelor's degree from California State University, Los Angeles. In 2008, Van Gorder and his executive team were named the Top Leadership Team in Health Care for large health systems by HealthLeaders magazine. Since 2007, Van Gorder has been included on the "100 Most Powerful in Health Care" list, compiled by Modern Healthcare magazine. In 2011, he was listed as No. 18. Van Gorder was part of medical history following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, M.D., asked a Scripps medical unit to staff a temporary clinic for hurricane survivors in the Houston Convention Center. The request for Scripps' assistance marked the first time the federal government asked a private health care organization for long-term support for a nationally organized disaster relief plan. The Scripps Medical Response Team later provided community medical support following the 2007 San Diego County wildfires, and again in January 2010, when Van Gorder and the Scripps Medical Response Team traveled to Port au Prince, Haiti to aid victims of the devastating earthquake. In October 2010, Van Gorder announced a new direction for Scripps Health. In anticipation of dramatic change in health care, he "turned the organization on its side," creating a horizontally matrixed management structure to identify and significantly reduce unnecessary variation in patient care and health care operations. The new "One Scripps" approach led to $70 million in performance improvements in the first year.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE GRADUATES! The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's undergraduate commencement ceremony with keynote by Rick Caruso. Rick Caruso is the founder and chief executive officer of Caruso Affiliated, one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the United States, with a portfolio of the retail and mixed-use properties that attract tens of millions of guests each year.

Advancement Project’s Urban Peace Program uses a comprehensive approach to reducing and ultimately ending gang violence in communities ravaged by gangs and crime.

2012 USC Sol Price School of Public Policy Satellite Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony.

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2010 USC SPPD Satellite Graduate Commencement Ceremony

2010 USC SPPD Satellite Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony

2010 USC SPPD Satellite Award Commencement Ceremony