USC Trustee Harlyne J. Norris gets a hug from Keck School of Medicine student Michael Marques, after presenting scholarships to Marques and Maria Victoria Peralta. The scholarships, funded by the USC University Hospital Guild, were presented during the Guild’s 15th anniversary luncheon.

Photo by Carol Matthieu

A USC trustee since 2000, Norris is a trustee and past chairman of the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation and serves on the advisory board of the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Through the Norris Foundation, the Norris family has given nearly $50 million to USC.

Congratulating Norris, USC President Steven B. Sample pointed to USC’s Harlyne J. Norris Cancer Research Tower as “a testament to her compassion, her dedication and her generosity. As you know, Harlyne supports and guides many organizations in Southern California—organizations to advance health care, research, education and the arts.”

Sample, who also spoke at the Guild’s charter ceremonies in 1993, thanked the Guild members as dedicated volunteers and ambassadors for the USC University Hospital and the Keck School of Medicine. “You reach out to support our doctors, our staff and medical students at every turn, and you give care and comfort to countless patients,” he said.

Keck School of Medicine Dean Carmen A. Puliafito thanked the Guild for their commitment to supporting not only the hospital, but also medical student scholarships.

“USC University Hospital is a very special place with special traditions,” Puliafito said. While the hospital and medical faculty members who practice there are known for their world-class medical services, he said, “One of the things that’s characterized the place is something that we saw today—that very personal, ‘welcome to my home’ attitude.” He thanked the Guild for contributing greatly to that “family feeling” for patients, their families and friends.

Guild President Kay Maselter named Norris an honorary member of the Guild in recognition of her contributions to the USC Health Sciences campus.

She presented Norris with a clock encased in a pyramid. The clock represents “the gift of time that she has made available to so many because of her generosity and that of the foundation. We have chosen a pyramid because of its representation of healing in so many cultures throughout time,” Maselter said.

Norris was invited to present two Celebrate Life Scholarships, funded by the Guild, to medical students Michael Marques and Maria Victoria Peralta.

Another scholarship in memory of Guild member Darlene Dufau Reid went to student Neda Roosta.