USC’s commitment to defending America stretches back for more than a century. During World War I, mock trenches — presumably with less mud than those on the battlefield — were dug across campus for military training. And during World War II, more than 70 faculty members enlisted in the armed forces, along with one in four male students.

For decades, USC Dornsife research has contributed significantly to national defense, sometimes in unexpected ways. At the start of the Iraq War, the late Christopher Boehm — a U.S. Army veteran and anthropologist whose work explored human conflict resolution, morality and primate behavior — was invited to Washington, D.C., to present his research to military officials. They were struck by his footage of chimpanzees patrolling their territory and how closely their movements resembled those of human infantry patrols.

Today, undergraduate and master’s degree programs in human security and geospatial intelligence, as well as the master of arts in global security studies, all based at USC Dornsife’s Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI) are equipping today’s students with the skills necessary to aid in America’s defense.

These SSI programs teach students to analyze spatial data such as satellite imagery, determine war-caused damage to infrastructure, monitor global human rights violations and evaluate natural disaster response.

“Our students learn to master policy development and spatial data analysis and apply best practices in intelligence writing,” says Darren Ruddell, professor (teaching) of spatial sciences. “This provides excellent preparation for national security and defense roles.

”Today’s students follow in the footsteps of seven extraordinary USC Dornsife alumni who put their education to work in service to the nation — from World War II to the present day.

Hitler, Sharks and Three Purple Hearts

Louis Zamperini ’40 a physical education, first attracted global attention at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Although he didn’t win a medal, his burst of speed in the final lap of the 5,000-meter race caught the eye of Adolf Hitler, who shook his hand.

Less than six years later, the United States was at war with Hitler’s Germany. In 1942, while serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces, Zamperini survived a crash in the Pacific when his B-24 bomber, nicknamed “Green Hornet,” went down.

After being stranded on a raft in shark-infested waters for 47 days, he was captured by the Japanese and endured two years of brutal treatment before being liberated in 1945. His service earned him three Purple Hearts, a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Prisoner of War Medal.

After returning home, Zamperini struggled with PTSD. He eventually found renewed purpose as a Christian evangelist and missionary. In 1998, he returned to Japan to run a leg of the Olympic torch relay at the Nagano Winter Games. The route took him past the camps where he had once been held prisoner.

The 2014 film Unbroken told his remarkable story. “It’s called Unbroken because I’m a stubborn Trojan. They’d have to kill me before I’d give in,” Zamperini said in a 2015 interview. Officially declared dead during his imprisonment, he lived 70 years after his release. He died in 2014 at the age of 97.

From USC to USS Paul Ignatius

After graduating with a history degree, Paul Ignatius ’42 was headed to Harvard on a scholarship. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor transformed his trajectory, leading to his decision to enlist in the U.S. Navy instead.

Ignatius was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Manila Bay, which came under attack in the Philippines by Japanese Kamikaze pilots. In one strike, a pilot crashed his plane through the flight deck, where it exploded. The crew still managed to save the ship.

After the war, Ignatius completed his MBA at Harvard and went on to found Harbridge House, a consulting firm specializing in defense and government contracts. His expertise in logistics eventually took him to Washington, D.C., where he served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations as assistant secretary of the Army, assistant secretary of defense and secretary of the Navy.

During the Vietnam War, Ignatius oversaw vast Department of Defense supply chains. He once quipped that he managed “everything from mayonnaise to missiles.”

Ignatius later credited his USC Dornsife education with helping prepare him for such a demanding career. “The liberal arts equip one to evaluate complex issues that arrive with technology and scientific advances and rapid social change,” he said in 2014.

In 2019, the U.S. Navy commissioned the USS Paul Ignatius, honoring his decades of service. Ignatius died in 2025 at the age of 104.

The Trojan Who Took on Terror

A suggestion from a professor led Cofer Black ’73, ’75 to a job interview in a nondescript building somewhere in Los Angeles — and the start of a 30-year career with the U.S. government.

At the time, Black was starting a PhD at USC Dornsife. Instead, he embarked on six foreign tours with the CIA. “My career stands as testament to what a USC education, and one pivotal professor, can set in motion,” says the alumnus, who earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in international relations.

Black eventually served in senior leadership roles in the agency’s Near East, South Asia and Latin American Divisions. Intelligence he gathered contributed to the 1994 capture of the Venezuelan terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal.

In 1999, he was appointed director of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center, warning early of the risk of an attack similar to 9/11. After the September 11 attacks occurred, he led the presidentially mandated global response to combat Al-Qaeda.

He later joined the U.S. Department of State as coordinator for counterterrorism, with the rank of ambassador-at-large.

Black has earned numerous honors, including the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal and the George Bush Award for Excellence.

“Mayor of the Pentagon”

Michael Donley ’77, ’78 is the only secretary of the Air Force to have served continuously across two administrations led by different political parties. His path to senior leadership began when he was drafted at 19. After serving for three years as an Army intelligence specialist at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he enrolled at USC Dornsife, earning both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in international relations.

After graduation, Donley set his sights on Washington, D.C., where he knew the Trojan Family could help launch his career. “There were USC alumni in D.C. who got there a year or two ahead of me. I had a network to help me get started,” he says. He worked his way up from legislative assistant in the Senate to deputy executive secretary of the National Security Council.

In 2008, Donley was appointed the 22nd secretary of the Air Force. During his tenure, he helped restore trust in the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise, oversaw Air Force support to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, expanded drone capabilities and launched the B-21 bomber program.

Donley stepped down in 2013 but returned to the Pentagon in 2021 as director of administration and management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a role often dubbed “Mayor of the Pentagon.” He retired from federal service in 2023.

Saigon to Two Silver Stars

Viet Luong ’87’s path to becoming a major general in the United States military began with a narrow escape. In 1975, at age 9, he fled Vietnam with his family aboard the USS Hancock during the fall of Saigon. Standing on the deck of the aircraft carrier, Luong vowed to give back to his adopted country through military service.

After his family resettled in Los Angeles, Luong enrolled at USC Dornsife on a full ROTC scholarship, majoring in biological sciences.

“It might not be the major you would expect, but being a science major taught me to think critically,” he says. “I can cut through a lot of fluff and get to the root of the problem, and that has been one of my greatest strengths in my career.”

Luong built a distinguished Army career, serving in Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. He commanded a battalion of 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers in Iraq and led the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan. He became the first Vietnamese-born general officer in the U.S. military in 2014 and was promoted to major general four years later.

Luong is now chief operating officer of Gigantor Technologies, which is bringing AI capabilities to small devices such as drones.

From Sorority Sister to CIA Spy

Two weeks after graduation, Tracy Walder ’00 began a career that probably few of her former classmates would have predicted. The sorority member and history major joined the CIA as a staff operations officer in its Counterterrorism Center.

Her USC Dornsife education proved invaluable as she worked to identify and disrupt terrorist networks across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

“CIA administrators and American policymakers don’t want to hear only hypotheses necessarily; that’s dangerous,” says Walder. “We had to have the facts, and being a history major was essential to my success at my job.”

After four years with the CIA, Walder moved to the FBI before returning to the classroom as a high school history teacher, developing a popular course on national security at her school. Her teaching has inspired many of her students to pursue careers in government and the military.

Today, she brings her expertise to a broad audience as a national security contributor for NewsNation and through television documentaries, including Netflix’s American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden. She is also the author of the bestselling memoir The Unexpected Spy, which traces her unusual path from sorority house to the CIA. At the time of writing, Walder’s career is highlighted in the “Camouflage” exhibit at the International Spy Museum in Washingon, D.C.

“A full circle moment’

Service to the United States runs in the family of Lt. Col. Alyson Kil ’10, ’14. During the Korean War, Kil’s South Korean grandfather worked as an exchange officer at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His Army service helped him bring his family to America, where they became naturalized U.S. citizens. Kil’s late uncle also served in the Army.

Kil graduated from USC Dornsife with a degree in biological sciences and earned her MD from the Keck School of Medicine of USC four years later. She says her classes provided strong preparation for her future career by challenging her to think for herself and solve problems. “Decisive leadership and superior decision-making skills are essential for military medicine,” she says.

Now stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, she oversees the health, readiness and combat capability of more than 90,000 soldiers as a force health protection physician. She also researches chemical warfare and infection control, teaches medical and premed students at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda. Maryland, and mentors North Korean defectors to help them acclimate to American culture.

Kil credits the U.S. military with helping her ancestral homeland attain freedom. It is a “full circle moment,” she says, to serve as a physician to American soldiers.

“It is because of them that South Korea is a thriving democracy today. It truly makes me exceptionally grateful to be an American soldier and citizen.”