New $10M Gift Will Benefit USC Marshall’s Military Veterans
The University of Southern California announced Tuesday it has received a $10 million gift that will create expanded scholarship opportunities for military veterans, with additional support for those studying in the USC Marshall School of Business, as well as the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
The Schoen Family Scholarship Program for Veterans Endowment, established in 1986 by USC trustee William J. Schoen (MBA ’63) and his wife, Sharon, adds crucial support for veterans at a time when members of the U.S. armed forces are returning home in large numbers.
“I believe that our veterans deserve an excellent education at an outstanding university,” says Schoen, a U.S. Marine veteran. “Our support for veterans goes back to when I went to USC. The reason that I was able to go to USC was that I applied for a scholastic scholarship and was awarded one.”
Schoen is chairman of the board of Health Management Associates (HMA), a Florida-based hospital corporation that owns and operates hospitals primarily in the southeastern and southwestern United States. Prior to his retirement, Schoen was HMA’s president, chief executive officer and chairman of the corporation.
With the most recent gift, the Schoen family has contributed a total of $16 million, and to date the endowment has provided $1.2 million in financial support to 173 students at the university.
Full-time MBA students at the USC Marshall School of Business are eligible for the Schoen Family Scholarship Program. For Aren Nazarians, a Marine veteran who earned his MBA from Marshall in 2010 and received support from the Schoen endowment, the scholarship fund represents the importance of the lasting legacy the Schoen family is creating.
“My education at USC would not be possible without the generosity of my benefactor, William Schoen,” Nazarians says. “The unique thing about a scholarship is the personal connection between the donor and the recipient. As students, we know that a scholarship is not a handout, and we owe it to our donors to make that investment count.”
