Dr. Dre, the hip-hop producer, rapper and mogul, has teamed with music industry entrepreneur Jimmy Iovine to donate a combined $70 million to the University of Southern California for the creation of a new institute for undergraduates, reported the Associated Press. The first undergraduate class will consist of 25 students and enroll in 2014.
"I feel like this is the biggest, most exciting and probably the most important thing that I've done in my career," Dr. Dre, real name Andre Young, told the New York Times.
The USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation will offer four core curriculum areas: arts and entrepreneurship; technology, design and marketability; concept and business platforms; and creating a prototype. Its aim is reportedly to encourage entrepreneurship while guiding the development of students' entertainment, technological and business skills. Areas of instruction will include engineering, computer science, fine arts, graphic design, business and leadership training. Faculty from USC's Thornton School of Music, Roski School of Fine Arts, Marshall School of Business and Viterbi School of Engineering will teach at the new academy - with one-on-one faculty mentoring with professors - while "industry icons and innovators" will be featured as guest speakers and visiting faculty.
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As seniors, students will be required to take part in "the Garage", which the New York Times compares to technology incubators like Y-Combinator, during which they will be responsible for setting up a business prototype.
Part of the $70 million will be put toward the construction of new facilities; meanwhile, students will use existing ones. Another portion of that endowment will go toward the establishment of scholarships for financially disadvantage students.
"The vision and generosity of Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young will profoundly influence the way all of us perceive and experience artistic media," USC President C.L. Max Nikias said in a statement. "Our goal is to ensure that the academy is the most collaborative educational program in the world."
The duo are business collaborators on the headphone Beats by Dr. Dre, which they say makes $1 billion in sales annually.
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