University Professor Solomon Golomb basked in an evening of praise Jan. 24, and USC Hillel came away with $100,000 in funding.

The occasion was USC Hillel’s annual L’Chaim Award Dinner, a fund-raising occasion for the benefit of the Jewish student group, which, according to its mission statement, “provides the foundation for Jewish student life at USC, offering a secure, inclusive and nurturing environment for all Jews who are part of the USC community.”

President Steven B. Sample, USC Viterbi School of Engineering donor and trustee Andrew J. Viterbi and USC Leventhal School of Accounting donor Kenneth Leventhal spoke, while Provost C. L. Max Nikias, Viterbi School Dean Yannis Yortsos and Nobel Prize winner George Olah joined more than 220 well-wishers filling the Skirball Center.

Sample pointed out the dimensions of Golomb's distinctions during the introduction.

“The title of university professor is the highest recognition USC can bestow on a faculty member,” said Sample, noting that out of more than 3,000 faculty, only 17 held the distinction. And, the president continued, “With his ceaseless curiosity, his thirst for learning across the academic landscape and his extraordinary accomplishment, Sol Golomb is the very embodiment of the concept of university professor.… I often turn to Sol for advice and assistance, and I know I can always count on him.”

Sample also referred to Golomb as a “triple threat” – a member of the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering, as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and a winner of the Shannon Prize, the highest award in signal processing.

Viterbi recalled how he had met Golomb years before at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and how generously Golomb had helped him in academic matters and such personal things as helping find a place for his parents to live.

Golomb’s daughter Beatrice could not attend the dinner – she had booked tickets more than a year earlier for a cruise to Patagonia. But on video, she presented a slide show of her father's life.

No tribute to Golomb would be complete without a review of the memorable photograph of the bearded professor sitting in the Hoose library in a USC football uniform – an image used for the cover of the USC recruiting brochure that got the largest response in the history of the publication, so striking that it was reprised a second year.

Professor George Chilingar presented two new awards – plaques from the Russian academy of sciences and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences honoring Golomb for lifetime achievement.

Hillel also offered its own testament: “Sol Golomb has been a significant part of USC Hillel and the Jewish community for 30 years. We are so proud to honor him for his work on the board and executive committee and for being such a strong supporter of Jewish life at USC,” said Robert Gach, board chair of the USC Hillel Foundation.