This Spring, the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences introduces the Dornsife Scholars Program to recognize its outstanding graduating seniors whose academic achievements across all spheres of knowledge address basic questions of human value and vital social challenges facing the nation and the world.

Honoring Dana and David Dornsife, internationally renowned philanthropists with the highest regard for education, the program underscores that excellence in the core academic disciplines of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences is the best preparation for students who wish to make a positive impact on the world. Dornsife Scholars are those committed to educational excellence and the advances that allow for improving the lives of people and addressing pressing global problems.

“The Dornsife Scholars program will serve as an enduring inspiration for USC Dornsife students to pursue scholarly inquiry in service of human enlightenment and progress,” said Howard Gillman, dean of USC Dornsife. “We are thrilled to recognize the inaugural group of Dornsife Scholars this Spring and to witness the positive changes they and future scholars will make to ensure the advancement of our communities and our world.”

The new Dornsife Scholar designation joins the university’s current undergraduate recognition programs, including: Discovery Scholars, Renaissance Scholars and Global Scholars. The Discovery Scholars program acknowledges students who excel in the classroom and display the ability to create exceptional new scholarship or artistic works. Renaissance Scholars are students whose broad and diverse interests help them excel academically. The Global Scholars program recognizes undergraduates who have excelled in their studies both at home and abroad.

The Dornsife Scholars program combines the talents sought in the Discovery, Renaissance and Global Scholars programs with an added emphasis on positive human impact. Offering university-wide recognition, the designation is available exclusively to outstanding graduating seniors whose major course of study is in USC Dornsife.

This year, approximately 10 USC Dornsife Scholars will be selected and awarded $10,000 prizes to be used for graduate or professional school studies.

The requirements for consideration by the USC Dornsife Scholars Faculty Selection Committee include:

• That students have a major in USC Dornsife;
• A GPA of 3.5 overall, and in upper-division major coursework a demonstration that applicants have taken challenging courses in USC Dornsife;
• Participation in independent research involving close collaboration with a USC Dornsife faculty member in a laboratory or field project, or engagement in archival or library research;
• Academic study abroad or participation in short-term international internships, research projects or programs such as Problems Without Passports.

Completed applications must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, March 30, 2012. For more information including submission requirements and to download an application, visit dornsife.usc.edu/dornsife-scholars-program.