Soon after Steven B. Sample became president of USC, the L.A. riots erupted. Administrators and staff were told to leave as smoke billowed on the horizon during those tense days in 1992. But Sample stayed, sleeping on his office floor and keeping company with fearful students in the dining hall.
The South Los Angeles campus escaped damage, but the nearby violence generated cries to move USC to a less-troubled neighborhood — perhaps somewhere in Orange County. Instead Sample doubled-down on his university as an “anchor institution†in the city, launching a massive civic engagement effort and proving himself a master salesman who boosted the school’s prestige and coffers.
During 19 years as president, Sample catapulted USC from being a school often mocked as the University of Second Choice or the University of Spoiled Children into a top educational institution and fundraising powerhouse.
He died Tuesday at the age of 75. No cause of death was released.
“So many of USC’s successes, so much of our university’s current stature, can be traced back to Dr. Sample’s dynamic leadership, keen foresight and extraordinary prudence,†current President C.L. Max Nikias said.
After holding several professorships, Sample became president of the State University of New York at Buffalo when he was just 41. In 1991, he was named USC’s 10th president.
Under Sample’s stewardship, USC rose from 51st to 26th in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of American universities and the number of its freshman applicants tripled. The university also became more selective, with acceptance rates dropping from 70% to 24%.
Sample also led efforts to give USC a global presence. Record numbers of foreign students, particularly from Asia, flocked to the university — a trend that has continued under Nikias.
While Sample was in charge, a USC chemist won a Nobel Prize, the school’s first. Sample instituted a ban on alcohol sales at the Coliseum during home football games, and cracked down on fraternity partying.
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Best known for her portrayal of Carol Brady on “The Brady Bunch,†Henderson
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(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times) 9/61
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(Joel Saget / AFP / Getty Images) 12/61
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(Larry Ellis / Getty Images) 21/61
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(Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times) 22/61
O’Brian helped tame the Wild West as the star of TV’s “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp†and was the founder of a long-running youth leadership development organization. “Wyatt Earp†became a top 10-rated series and made O’Brian a household name. He was 91. Full obituary
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) 23/61
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(Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) 24/61
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(AFP / Getty Images) 25/61
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(Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) 26/61
Known as the “queen of knitwear,†Sonia Rykiel became a fixture of Paris’ fashion scene, starting in 1968. French President Francois Hollande praised her as “a pioneer†who “offered women freedom of movement.†She was 86. Full obituary
(Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 27/61
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(Kevin Wolf / Associated Press) 28/61
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(Scott Chernis / Associated Press) 29/61
The British actor, who was 3-foot-8, gave life to the “Star Wars†droid R2-D2, one of the most beloved characters in the space-opera franchise and among the most iconic robots in pop culture history. He was 81. Full obituary
(Reed Saxon / Associated Press) 30/61
For many in L.A., Folsom was the face of the Parent Teacher Student Assn., better known as the PTSA or PTA. He served as the official and unofficial watchdog over the Los Angeles Unified School District and wrote about his experiences in his blog. He was 69. Full obituary
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 31/61
Fountain combined the Swing Era sensibility of jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman with the down-home, freewheeling style characteristic of traditional New Orleans jazz to become a national star in the 1950s as a featured soloist on the “The Lawrence Welk Show.†He was 86. Full obituary
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 32/61
Lowery was a pioneer in efforts to help people suffering from poverty, addiction and mental illness move out of tents and cardboard boxes on Los Angeles’ sidewalks and into supportive housing. She was 70. Full obituary
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 33/61
Nixon, a Hollywood voice double, can be heard in place of the leading actresses in such classic movie musicals as “West Side Story,†“The King and I†and “My Fair Lady.†She was 86. Full obituary
(Rob Kim / AFP/Getty Images) 34/61
The department store heir’s widow was a socialite and philanthropist who hobnobbed with the world’s elite, epitomized high fashion and was best friends with former first lady Nancy Reagan. She was 93. Full obituary
(Evan Agostini / Associated Press) 35/61
The author and teacher was long established as a leading literary figure of Southern California. Her works include “Golden Days,†“There Will Never Be Another You†and her memoir “Dreaming, Hard Luck and Good Times in America.†She was 82. Full obituary
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) 36/61
The Nazi concentration camp survivor won the Nobel in 1986 for his message “of peace, atonement and human dignity.†“Night,†his account of his year in death camps, is regarded as one of the most powerful achievements in Holocaust literature. He was 87. Full obituary
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One of the greatest basketball coaches of any gender or generation, Summitt spent 38 years as coach of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team before dementia forced her early retirement. She was 64. Full obituary
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(Mark Lennihan / Associated Press) 39/61
Aguirre was best known for his portrayal of the towering “Profesor Jirafales,†the likable and often disrespected giraffe teacher on the 1970s-era hit show “El Chavo del Ocho.†The screwball comedy helped usher in an era of edgier comedy in Mexico and elsewhere. Aguirre was 82. Full obituary
(AFP / Getty Images) 40/61
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(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 42/61
The first African American chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Williams steadied the agency in the tumultuous wake of the 1992 riots but was distrusted as an outsider by many officers and politicians. He was 72. Full obituary
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Best known for her role as Marie Barone on “Everybody Loves Raymond,†Roberts won four Emmys for her work on that show and one for her work on “St. Elsewhere.†She was 90. Full obituary
(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times) 44/61
The country music legend sang of his law-breaking Bakersfield youth and penned a stream of No. 1 hits. He owed some of his fame to conservative anthems, including the combative 1969 release “Okie from Muskogee,†which seemed to mock San Francisco’s anti-war hippies. He was 79. Full obituary
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 45/61
The acclaimed Native American historian was the last surviving war chief of Montana’s Crow Tribe. President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He was 102. Full obituary
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(Martin Meissner / Associated Press) 47/61
The Iraqi-born British architect was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor. She made her mark with buildings such as the London Aquatics Centre, the MAXXI museum for contemporary art in Rome and the innovative Bridge Pavilion in Zaragoza, Spain. She was 65. Full obituary
(Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press) 48/61
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(Christina House / For The Times) 49/61
Garry Shandling’s comedic career spanned decades, but he is best known for his role as Larry Sanders, the host of a fictional talk show. His sitcom pushed the boundaries of TV, influencing shows such as “The Office†and “Modern Family.†He was 66. Full obituary.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 50/61
Ken Howard was president of SAG-AFTRA and an actor known for his role on TV’s ‘The White Shadow.’ He championed the merger of Hollywood’s two largest actors unions, which had a history of sparring. He was 71. Full obituary
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 51/61
The longtime Los Angeles radio disc jockey, whose real name was Art Ferguson, hosted the morning radio show for popular and influential station KHJ-AM in the late 1960s and went on to be a key player in the launch of latter-day powerhouses KROQ-AM and KIIS-FM. He was 71. Full obituary
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 52/61
The veteran actor built his early career playing heavies and won an Academy Award in 1968 for his supporting role as the tough Southern prison-camp convict who grew to hero-worship Paul Newman’s defiant title character in “Cool Hand Luke.†He was 91. Full obituary
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A prolific entrepreneur, Mann over the course of seven decades founded 17 companies in fields ranging from aerospace to pharmaceuticals to medical devices. He was 90. Full obituary
(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) 54/61
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Pro-BMX biker Dave Mirra was one of the most decorated athletes in X Games history. He held the record for the most medals in history with 24. He was 41. Full obituary
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In a career that encompassed everything from big-budget Hollywood movies to classical theater, Rickman made bad behavior fascinating to watch from “Die Hard†to the “Harry Potter†movies. He was 69. Full obituary
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(Tamas Kovacs / EPA) 60/61
Gordon helped revolutionize surfing with the creation of the foam surfboard. His polyurethane boards were lighter and easier to ride, making surfing accessible -- which helped popularize the sport globally. He was in his 70s. Full obituary
(Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune/ZUMA Press) 61/61
The attorney and almond farmer was known for his battle to stop the $68-billion California bullet train project from slicing up his almond orchards -- part of a deeply emotional land war that has drawn in hundreds of farming families from Merced to Bakersfield. He was 92. Full obituary
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) When he announced his retirement in 2009, Sample told The Times that he was proudest of boosting the academic quality of the students, achieved partly by trimming the size of the freshman class 25% and enhancing undergraduate course offerings.
That focus on education, however, was matched by a fundraising prowess.
USC received five gifts of at least $100 million during Sample’s tenure, and the university’s endowment grew from $450 million to a pre-recession height of nearly $4 billion. The endowment was battered by the recession, dipping to about $3 billion when he announced he was stepping down.
Recognizing the school’s transformation, Time magazine named USC its college of the year for 2000. Sample told the Chronicle of Higher Education that he had 600,000 copies of the article made.
“Every living Trojan got at least two copies,†he joked. “Every dead Trojan got at least one.â€
But the depth of his zeal for the school found striking expression during the tumultuous days of 1992.
Joe Hellige, a psychology professor at the time of the riots who later served as vice provost of academic affairs, recalled that Sample kept a visible presence on campus during the frightening days of the riots.
“Most of us found that to be the mark of a genuine leader,†said Hellige, now executive vice president and provost at Loyola Marymount University. “He understood the importance of the university to the city of Los Angeles, but also the importance of Los Angeles as a place.â€
In a letter to the USC community after the city had calmed, Sample wrote: “It was not a miracle that USC came through unscathed. Our neighbors understand that USC is an anchor institution in this city, and they do what they can to help it flourish.â€
Still, the pressure rose on USC to relocate, much as Pepperdine had decamped from what was then South-Central for Malibu after the Watts riots in 1965.
“I was advised by many people to ‘do a Pepperdine’ … and get the hell out of Los Angeles,†Sample would say.
But he emphasized his commitment to L.A., and the campus stayed put.
At the time, Sample understood the need to improve USC’s relationship with the neighborhood. Campus security officers soon were dispatched to patrol not just USC grounds but the community around the school, and thousands of undergraduates began volunteering around South L.A.
The Rev. Cecil “Chip†Murray, former pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church and a noted civic leader, told The Times in 2000: “Steve Sample is what a university president should be. He brightens the corner that he is in, rather than looking for bright lights.â€
In an address to USC faculty in 2004, Sample again stressed his commitment:
“When I arrived from Buffalo … many people believed that Los Angeles was a dead city with no future,†Sample said. “The trustees and I, however, took a different view. USC … grew up with this city, and we plan to continue to be in the heart of this most dynamic and exciting city for centuries to come.â€
In 2001, about a decade into his tenure, Sample was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In a letter informing the university’s faculty, he said the condition had given him a tremor in his left hand, but he did not expect it to spell the end of his career.
“I have no intention of letting Parkinson’s stand in the way,†he said.
He kept true to his word, serving nine more years. Only Rufus B. von KleinSmid, USC’s president from 1921 to 1947, had a longer tenure.
Along with his administrative duties, Sample co-taught a class each year with Warren Bennis, a professor of business administration. It was called “The Art and Adventure of Leadership,†and undergraduates had to apply for the course
“They were personally involved with all of the students,†said Erin Gielow Matzkin, who took the course the fall semester of her senior year in 1999. She said Sample advised her about her postgraduate aspirations, and she heeded his advice to attend USC Gould School of Law.
“He told me I should go wherever I wanted, but that he thought USC would be a good fit,†she said.“It was so refreshing to get that level of interest and perspective from a professor.... That class changed my life.â€
When he announced his retirement in 2009, Sample said the university needed “fresh leadership.â€
“I think I’m still pretty high-energy compared to most university presidents,†he told The Times. “But I think a new president might bring a lot more energy, and that would be great.â€
He retired from USC in 2010 at age 69 but remained active at the university, serving on the board of trustees.
Sample was born in St. Louis on Nov. 29, 1940, and married his college sweetheart, Kathryn Brunkow, while both were undergraduates at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he later earned a doctorate in electrical engineering.
A specialist in electromagnetic theories, he invented the controls and touch pads used in millions of microwave ovens.
He is survived by his wife, daughters Michelle Sample Smith and Elizabeth Sample and two grandchildren.
For news in California, follow @LATChrisGoffard and @MattHjourno.
Staff writers Jason Song, Zahira Torres and Carla Rivera contributed to this report.
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