Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine Donate $70 Million to USC
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine are not only partners in music; they're teaming up for charity. Dre (birth name Andre Young) and the Interscope Records co-founder collectively donated $70 million to USC for the construction of a new center, the university revealed in a statement Tuesday (May 14).
The money will be used to build the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. "The vision and generosity of Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young will profoundly influence the way all of us perceive and experience artistic music," USC President C.L. Max Nikias said in a statement.
USC will offer a four-year undergrad program in various fields of interest within the entertainment industry, including marketing, visual design and computer science. The program will also feature person-to-person faculty mentoring, and interaction with entertainment professionals. "We are committed to encouraging our students to use their intellectual and creative resources to effect change in all segments of society," Nikias added. "Our goal is to ensure that the academy is the most collaborative educational programs in the world."
An inaugural class of 25 students will begin the program in the fall of 2014.
Having worked together for more than two decades, Dre and Iovine are used to collaborating on multi-million ventures. Their growing Beats by Dre empire recently expanded to include speakers and has become a leader in sound technology, grabbing 40 percent of U.S headphone sales over the Christmas holiday last year.
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(Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)