2018
Wanda Austin
First African-American President of USC (Interim)
2014
Verna Dauterive
Opening of Peter and Verna Dauterive Hall; First Interdisciplinary Building at USC
2000
Crispus Attucks Wright
First African-American Multimillion Dollar Major Gift Donor to USC
1994
Maulana Karenga
Best Known as the Creator of the Pan-African and African-American Holiday of Kwanzaa; Ph.D Dornsife
1983
Amy Trask
First Female CEO of the NFL, Oakland Raiders; USC Law School Graduate
1981
Samuel L. Williams
First African-American USC Trustee; 1961 Graduate of USC Law School
Stayce Harris
First African-American Female to Pilot a 747; First African-American Female Lt. General in the Air Force
1976
Rev. Thomas Kilgore
Establishment of USC Black Alumni Association; Scholarship Assistance Provided to Low-income Students, All Minorities (with Alumni Verna Dauterive, Peter Dauterive, Thomas Griffith, Sr., Portia Griffith)
Aulanna Peters
First African-American Female SEC Commissioner
1968
Michael Garrett
First USC Heisman Trophy Winner
Cynthia Watson Arnold
First USC African-American Helen of Troy
Linda Murray Fuller
First USC African-American Song Girl
1956
Adam Herbert
First African-American President, Indiana University; Graduate of School of Public Policy
Yvonne Braithewaite Burke
First African-American Congresswoman, California; Graduate of USC Law School
1949
Chester Carter
First African-American USC Student Senator
1931
Edwin L. Jefferson
First African-American Justice for the California Second Appellate Court of Appeals; USC Law School Graduate
1927
Faye Jackson
First African-American Female Nationally Renowned Journalist
Helen Wheeler Riddle
First African-American Female USC Law School Graduate
1925
Brice Union Taylor
First USC All-American in Trojan Football History
1919
Paul Revere Williams
First African-American Architect
1918
Vada Watson Somerville
First Female Graduate, USC School of Dentistry (Married to John Somerville)
1914
Booker T. Washington
USC Address and Visit with President of USC (Fundraising Tour for Tuskegee Institute)
1913
Howard Porter Drew
“The Fastest Man in the World”; World Record Holder in Track and Field 100 Meter (Attended USC 1913-16)
1909
John A. Somerville
First African-American Graduate, USC School of Dentistry
Diana McNeil Pierson
BA in 1909; MS in 1910; At One Time Thought to Be the First Black Woman to Attend USC
1907
Joseph P. Widney
Former USC President Publishes “Race Life of the Aryan Peoples,” a Best-selling Book on “Scientific Racism”
1904
Clarence Bertrand Thompson
First African-American Law School Graduate
1894
Laura Gertrude Brown
Graduates with a Degree in Music; Her Degree is Conferred by USC President Joseph P. Widney