USC Viterbi School of Engineering has commemorated a $25 million cumulative gift from alumnus Daniel J. Epstein that has transformed industrial and systems engineering research, innovation, and learning at USC over 20 years.
Guests gathered at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills on November 17, 2022, in honor of Epstein’s generous endowment — the largest naming gift for any ISE department in the United States at the time — which in 2002 established the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, the first named department at USC.
Epstein is the founder of the ConAm Group, headquartered in San Diego. A member of the USC Board of Trustees since 2002, he serves on the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Board of Councilors and the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate’s advisory council. The real estate entrepreneur’s impact has been felt in many places, from the Epstein Family Plaza at USC Viterbi to the USC Epstein Family Alumni Center.
Epstein’s most recent $14 million gift to the department in 2021 is accelerating the recruitment of an additional seven expert faculty with a focus on interdisciplinary areas such as computational systems, machine learning and artificial intelligence in order to address society’s most critical challenges. The latest gift will also fast-track the modernization of facilities at University Park Campus, housing the Epstein Department in one collaborative space at the Salvatori Center, renovated to meet the standards of an up-to-date teaching and research facility. The gift is also providing increased support for doctoral student fellowships.
Epstein Department Chair Maged Dessouky, USC President Carol L. Folt and Daniel J. Epstein. Image/Steve Cohn.
Speaking with attendees at the celebration, USC President Carol L. Folt said that Epstein’s naming gift had transformed industrial and systems engineering at USC into a top-ranked department.
“We have so much to celebrate tonight. A world-class department, the anniversary of a historic naming gift, and a person whose generosity and vision have touched both,” Folt said. “Dreaming big – and doing big – define Dan Epstein. His contributions as a two-decade trustee and benefactor of USC are phenomenal.”
Dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Yannis C. Yortsos. Image/Steve Cohn.
Dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Yannis C. Yortsos thanked Epstein for his generosity, steadfastness, vision, and constant support to industrial and systems engineering at USC.
“Twenty years ago, alumnus Dan Epstein saw that the academic department from which he graduated needed his support to help grow, adjust and flourish in a constantly changing world. That generous and unprecedented, at that time, support resulted in the naming of the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering,” Yortsos said.
“And following the department naming and in the last two years, in another tremendous gesture to help today’s ISE graduates flourish, he provided two additional generous gifts that increased his total commitment to the Epstein ISE Department to $25 million, with additional goals to advance health management expertise and to further expand ISE in modern computational and systems areas,” Yortsos said.
Chair of the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Maged Dessouky said that Epstein’s naming gift 20 years ago had been truly transformative for the department.
“I am not aware of any other ISE department that has experienced the same type of transformation as we did,” Dessouky said. “When I joined the department in 1993, it had only three faculty members with a total enrollment between the undergraduate and graduate programs of around 80 to 100 students. Today, we have 19 faculty members and 1100 students.”
“Dan’s latest gift will ensure this great momentum will continue,” Dessouky said.
Epstein’s initial naming gift in 2002 led to a period of rapid growth for industrial and systems engineering at USC, allowing the department to expand in scope and impact, with strengths in areas such as computational and data-centric decision-making, health care policy, transportation and optimization. Departmental research has contributed to policy and real-world benefits in areas such as resource allocation for social welfare, health care, transportation, security, e-commerce and the environment.
Phyllis Epstein and Daniel J. Epstein at the ISE 20th Anniversary event. Image/Steve Cohn.
Department faculty members hold leadership roles in major research centers such as the METRANS Transportation Consortium, the USC Center for Advanced Manufacturing, the USC Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society, the USC Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Threats and Emergencies and many more.
Epstein’s endowment to the department over two decades has enabled the establishment of chairs, scholarships and the founding of the Daniel J. Epstein Institute. In 2020, Epstein’s support for ISE led to the launch the Master of Science in Health Systems Management Engineering aimed at equipping industrial engineers with the unique skills to address the urgent needs of the U.S. healthcare sector. The support has enabled the development of a new curriculum, recruitment of expert faculty members, tailored learning spaces and scholarships for students.
Published on December 1st, 2022
Last updated on December 1st, 2022
