Anthony D. Lazzaro Senior Vice President for Business Affairs, 1986-1988

Anthony D. Lazzaro, vice president emeritus, has been an administrator at the University of Southern California since 1948.

After serving initially as assistant business manager, Lazzaro was appointed associate business manager and director of campus development in 1960, associate vice president for business affairs in 1971, vice president in 1972, senior vice president for business affairs in January 1986, and vice president of the university and special adviser to the president in 1988. Upon his retirement in 1991, he received the title vice president emeritus for his years of distinguished service.

During his active career at the university, Lazzaro was responsible for the construction of 132 buildings on USC’s campuses and oversaw landscaping that transformed city streets into walkways and pedestrian malls. “Anthony Lazzaro virtually built the USC we know today,” said President James H. Zumberge in 1987. “No single individual has had more impact on the development of this university.”

As USC’s chief liaison officer with the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Lazzaro also directed USC’s participation in the 1984 Olympic Games, personally negotiating agreements totaling more than $19 million in reimbursement for expenses incurred in connection with USC’s service as an Olympic Village. In acknowledgment of this achievement, Zumberge said, “More than any other, Anthony Lazzaro deserves the credit for the success of USC’s involvement with the Olympics.”

Lazzaro has gained national recognition among college and university administrators. He served as president of the Western Association of College and University Business Officers in 1972 and as president of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) in 1978. In 1986, he received the NACUBO Distinguished Business Officer Award, becoming the first active business officer to be so recognized.

He is a past chairman of the National Advisory Council of the United Student Aid Fund and a former member of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission. Additionally, he has served on the board of directors of Republic Federal Savings and Loan Association and subsidiary corporations and has acted as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Seeley G. Mudd Fund and a variety of civic organizations, including the Los Angeles Hoover Urban Renewal Advisory Committee and the Palos Verdes Board of Education.

Lazzaro serves on USC’s Honorary Degrees Committee, is a senior adviser to the Emeriti Center and is a member of the board of the Half-Century Trojans. He also is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, Blue Key and Skull and Dagger, and he is a life member of the USC Associates and the Appellate Circle.

Lazzaro was born in Utica, New York, in 1921 and received his B.S. degree from USC in industrial and systems engineering in 1948, graduating cum laude. In 1974, he was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by Pepperdine University in recognition of his leadership in higher education. He received the inaugural President’s Award from the University of Redlands in 2000 in appreciation for his service as an adviser to the Redlands administration. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in Higher Education and is a registered professional engineer in California.

Lazzaro received a special honor in December 1988, when Anthony D. Lazzaro Plaza, so designated by the USC Board of Trustees, was dedicated on the University Park campus to acknowledge his commitment and distinguished career of service to the university.