Hip hop star Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, a music mogul have donated millions of dollars to USC for a new academy. The Los Angeles Times reported that they gave $70 million for the academy that they say will give students the tools they need to break into the music industry.
Dre and Iovine are set to announce the school in Santa Monica. Because of the generous gift, the school will be known as USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for the Arts, Technology and Business Innovation. Dr. Dre's real name is Andre Young.
"The vision and generosity of Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young will profoundly influence the way all of us perceive and experience artistic media," USC President C.L. Max Nikias said in a statement. "Our goal is to ensure that the academy is the most collaborative educational program in the world."
The academy will open in 2014 to a class of 25 students.
"Academy students will have the freedom to move easily from classroom to lab, from studio to workshop individually or in groups, and blow past any academic or structural barriers to spontaneous creativity," Erica Muhl, dean of the fine arts school, said in a statement according to The LA Times.
The four year program will feature four different curriculum areas including technology, design and marketability, arts and entrepreunership, concept and business platform and creating a prototype. With aims at entrepreneurship the academy hopes that students will get the skills they need.
USC's statement said that "That training will come from faculty at USC's Thornton School of Music, Roski School of Fine Arts, Marshall School of Business and Viterbi School of Engineering, as well as "industry icons and innovators as visiting faculty and guest speakers."
Dr. Dre got his start in Compton as a member of the group N.W.A and has had a successful career following. Iovine founded Interscope Records in 1990 and has been a producer and engineer for major acts.
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