The 10th annual event brought students and donors together for a special night of gratitude.
Dean Yannis Yortsos, senior Armen Arakelyan, senior Taylor Hill-Miles and alum Santanu Das spoke at USC Viterbi’s 10th annual Scholarship and Fellowship Dinner on Feb. 26 at Town and Gown. (Photo/Courtesy of Cha Cha Studio)
The power of giving back was front and center on Feb. 26, as the USC Viterbi School of Engineering held its 10th annual Scholarship and Fellowship Dinner at Town & Gown.
Welcoming a diverse group of talented students and the donors who support them, Dean Yannis Yortsos expressed why scholarships and fellowships are so vital.
“Support is increasingly important in today’s pace of accelerating change,” he said. “This world is multi-disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary. And at the core of these intersections are engineering and technology.”
Yortsos recounted the importance that such support played in his own academic journey, expressing how it truly benefits recipients.
“(It) is an investment in human capital,” he said “And its return on that investment is a return that uplifts our common humanity through educating talented students, letting them excel and helping them prosper by developing outstanding technical competence and outstanding character.”
The first scholarship at what is now USC Viterbi was established in 1955. Since then, thousands of students have been on the receiving end of kindness and commitment from alumni, parents, friends, corporations, and foundations.
Today, the school is home to nearly 200 endowments for scholarships and fellowships, a number that signifies the importance donors place on helping our students.
One of the event’s highlights has always been hearing directly from selected students, who share what scholarship support has meant to them.
First up was senior Taylor Hill-Miles, who will be joining Microsoft after graduation.
“Everything that I have accomplished over the last four years is a product of hard work, dedication and a dream,” she said. “A dream fueled by the opportunities, initiatives and resources that Viterbi has to offer. Without your generosity, I wouldn’t be living my dreams.”
The event took place at Town and Gown Ballroom. (Photo/Courtesy of Cha Cha Studio)
Hill-Miles was followed by Armen Arakelyan, a senior studying astronautical engineering and who has been a big part of the Rocket Propulsion Lab, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Arakelyan will join SpaceX after graduation.
“I’m incredibly thankful to all the USC (donors) who make it possible for students like myself to participate in these projects,” he said. “With your generous support, we quite literally made it to space.”
The night’s donor speaker was Santanu Das (’96 CEE), who sits on the USC Viterbi Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Board, and who, with his wife Kelly, established the Das Family Civil and Environmental Engineering Innovation Competition in 2024.
“I believe USC has the ability to differentiate itself through entrepreneurship, through competitions and through producing well rounded engineers, separating itself from its peer institutions. We need help producing those kinds of people.”
Kaci Silverman, senior associate dean for advancement, emceed the dinner, which hosted more than 200 guests, and Kelly Goulis, senior associate dean for admission & student engagement, spoke about the role of her office, better known as VASE. The event kicked off with a spirited performance from the USC Marching Band.
Published on February 28th, 2025
Last updated on February 28th, 2025
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