A memorial service will be held Tuesday, Oct. 12, at 2 p.m., in Town and Gown on the University Park campus. For more information, call 213-740-6786.


Carl M. Franklin, who was USC’s vice president for financial affairs, chief legal officer, and a law professor during a university career that spanned five decades, died Sept. 6 of pneumonia. He was 93.

Franklin, a native of Spokane, Wash., joined the USC Law School faculty in 1953, teaching subjects ranging from international law to contracts and restitution. He was named by then-President Norman Topping to be USC’s vice president for financial affairs in 1960.

In 1970, under then-President John Hubbard, Franklin’s title changed to vice president for financial and legal affairs. In 1991, at age 80, he was named vice president emeritus by then-President James H. Zumberge, and he continued working until his death, raising about $4 million per year for USC.

“Carl and his wife, Carolyn, dedicated their lives to USC,” USC President Steven B. Sample said. “For more than half a century, they worked together to advance the university. Carl was an inspiring law professor, superb administrator and passionate fund-raiser, who continued working for USC up until his most recent illness.

“His energy and devotion to his family and to USC made him an inspiration to all of us. I speak for many when I say I will miss him deeply,” Sample said.

Over the years, the Franklins raised more than $150 million for chairs, professorships, scholarships, buildings and equipment for many schools and departments at USC.

In 1996, Franklin received the Presidential Medallion – the highest honor that USC can bestow. The medallion was also awarded posthumously to his wife, Carolyn. Franklin received the award for his invaluable legal expertise and financial advice to the university. Carolyn’s award acknowledged her work to raise funds over the years for Town and Gown’s endowment scholarship fund, which grew from $175,000 to more than $12 million through her efforts. In 1985, Town and Gown named its fountain in honor of the couple.

In 1983, friends of the Franklins endowed the Carl Mason Franklin Dean's Chair in Law, which is held by Matthew L. Spitzer. Later, Franklin endowed the Carolyn Craig Franklin Professorship of Law and Religion, which is held by Ronald R. Garet.

In addition, Franklin raised $3 million to endow the USC President’s Chair; worked closely with Peter and Helen Bing to establish the Anna H. Bing Dean's Chair in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; and participated in raising money for eight of the 13 Dean’s Chairs in USC’s professional schools.

“Carl Franklin was a wonderful man who cared deeply about philanthropic support of higher education and helping young people to learn,” said USC Law School Dean Matthew L. Spitzer. “He educated many of the finest lawyers in California and helped shape USC into the leading national university that it is today.”

In 1990, Franklin was interviewed for the USC Emeriti Center’s Living History Project video series. When asked about his many accomplishments, he noted he was most proud that when he was a law professor he “supplied the law clerks for [former] California Supreme Court Justice Roger J. Traynor.” One of these students, Marcus Kaufman, went on himself to become a California Supreme Court Justice.

In the video, Franklin talked about his early years at the university, how he worked closely with many different presidents and how the university grew in stature over the years. He also detailed the work he did in helping USC to set up such legal entities as group life insurance policies and its life-income trust system, wherein cash or property is given to USC and the university pays the donor an annuity for the rest of the donor’s life.

At the time he was in charge of the system, Franklin said, he would send out personal cards along with the checks.

After his wife’s death in 1993, Franklin gave $2.2 million to USC in her name and wrote a book, “To Carolyn With Love,” about their life together. The Carolyn Craig Franklin Library Garden Courtyard and Fountain, just north of Doheny Library, was finished in November 2001 to commemorate what would have been her 82nd birthday.

Along with the $600,000 gift to build the Courtyard and Fountain, Franklin gave USC more than $1 million for the Carolyn Craig Franklin Endowment for Campus Beautification, in honor of Carolyn’s interest in gardening and beautifying the USC campus. In early 2004, he gave $300,000 to the Dr. Arthur C. Bartner Endowment Fund for the USC Band Director because of his admiration for Art Bartner and the USC Spirit of Troy Marching Band.

His generosity continued in death, according to his son, Sterling, as in his Will and Living Trust, Franklin specified that his estate should go to four charities, including Town and Gown.

Franklin’s professional accomplishments included stints as chair of the Association of American Law Schools’ committee on international law; president of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities; and president of Town Hall of California in Los Angeles, where he initiated the Life Member program and the endowment program. He also opened Town Hall membership to women.

He was the author of a book, “Law of the Sea: Some Recent Developments With Particular Reference to the United Nations Conference of 1958” (1961), and numerous articles on treaty-making powers and international law. His book became an important reference for the U.S. Navy.

“Dr. Franklin was so trusted as a financial manager, investor and legal adviser that he was named to serve as a trustee of many charitable trusts,” his son said.

As a trustee, he participated in donating to colleges, universities, hospitals and other charities throughout the United States (but predominantly in California)more than $100 million during his service on the Seeley G. Mudd Fund, Rufus B. von KleinSmid Trust, Torrey H. Webb Charitable Trust, John Stauffer Trust, Emmett Jones Trust, Donald and Katherine Loker Foundation, Rita H. Small Trust and Morris S. Smith Foundation. He was able to garner more than $40 million from these trusts for USC.

Franklin graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Washington in 1931 with an A.B. in economics. As a high school teacher in 1932, Franklin met then-USC President Rufus von KleinSmid at a teacher’s conference. “Little did I realize,” he said in the Emeriti video, “that we would be colleagues some day.”

Before he joined USC in 1953, Franklin was academic vice president and professor of law at the University of Oklahoma.

Franklin earned a master's degree in economics from Stanford University in 1935, a master's in university administration from Columbia University in 1939 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1940.

He joined the U.S. Navy after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 and was commissioned as a lieutenant (junior grade). He was assigned to recruit officers for the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in Columbus, Ohio. It was there he met his wife, a WAVES recruit, and proposed to her soon afterward.

Franklin earned a J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1948 and a JSD in international law from Yale University in 1956. In 1959, he became a representative of Naval War College at the Academy of International Law in The Hague, Netherlands.

In April, Franklin received special honors as a 50-year employee of the USC at the University Staff Club’s annual staff recognition luncheon. “I don’t think there is anyone who cares more deeply for USC than Carl Franklin,” Dean Matthew L. Spitzer said.

Franklin, who was a resident of Westchester, Calif., is survived by his brother, Glen Franklin of Fairbanks, Alaska; his brother-in-law, Joseph Craig, of Ashland, Ore., and his four adult children, Craig, Sterling, Laurence and Priscilla.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Carolyn and Carl Franklin Scholarship Fund of Town and Gown and the Dr. Arthur C. Bartner Endowment Fund for the USC Band Director, in care of the Office of the USC Senior Vice President for Advancement, Los Angeles, CA 90089-4017.