University Receives $15 Million Gift From Rod Dedeaux's Daughter
March 31, 2011 | Baseball
March 31, 2011
(courtesy of USC Public Relations)
The University of Southern California has received $15 million from longtime supporters Roger and Michele Dedeaux Engemann. Michele is a trustee and alumna of the university, and she and Roger are USC parents.
The funds will support the construction of a new student health center on USC's University Park campus, to be forever named the Roger and Michele Dedeaux Engemann Student Health Center.
"As USC becomes increasingly residential, it is vital that we have first-rate facilities for our students," said president C. L. Max Nikias. "The Engemanns' extraordinary support will enable us to offer our students a state-of-the-art health center, one that matches our world-class laboratories, libraries and classrooms. Thanks to this exceptional gift, our students will have exactly what Michele and Roger wish for them: excellent quality of health care."
President Nikias added, "Michele and Roger are magnificent Trojans who care deeply about all our students -- undergraduates, graduates and professional school students. They are creating an outstanding legacy that will forever touch the lives of Trojans."
The Engemann Student Health Center will be located along Jefferson Boulevard adjacent to Fluor Tower, USC's tallest building devoted to housing freshmen, and in close proximity to other student residences. At five stories and 101,000 square feet in size, the center will reflect USC's traditional architectural style.
"We see this as an opportunity to transform the well-being of generations of the Trojan Family and to shape the future health and wellness of the USC community," said Roger and Michele Dedeaux Engemann. "This center will enhance the experience of every Trojan student and set them on a lifelong course of good health and success."
The center's open lobby will warmly welcome visitors, and the interior spaces will be designed to maximize comfort, privacy and efficiency. It will contain a faculty and staff clinic with a separate entrance and will be constructed to the highest standards of sustainability.
Michele added, "Both of my parents graduated from USC, as did two of our children, and three of my siblings. The university is our family's home, and we want others to share in that remarkable feeling - the incredibly warm embrace of the Trojan Family."
Michele's late father, Rod Dedeaux, coached the Trojan baseball team for 45 years, and Dedeaux Field is named in his honor. Michele and Roger gifted the USC Baseball Hall of Fame in honor of her father and the 45 nationally recognized teams who played under him.
In addition to providing unlimited primary and urgent care, the Engemann Student Health Center will offer comprehensive counseling and health promotion services, while serving as home to specialty clinics in dermatology, orthopedics, oral health, allergy and gynecology. It will also feature laboratory and medical imaging facilities, as well as a USC faculty and staff clinic for the treatment of minor health issues.
"The center answers a pressing need among our student body," said Michael L. Jackson, USC's vice president for student affairs. "Since 1996, USC's residential student population has grown significantly, and we've seen a 116 percent increase in individual student visits during this period. Our existing facility is inadequate, so the Engemanns' support comes at the perfect time."
The center will promote healthy living among USC's student body, while offering quality mental health services. It will also increase students' access to important vaccinations and serve as a vital resource for diet, weight and exercise education.
Moreover, the center will bolster the proportion of USC students with health insurance and play a critical role in the planning and care related to local and national disasters, including earthquakes, terrorism and civil unrest, as well as infectious disease outbreaks.
Lawrence Neinstein, senior associate dean of student affairs and executive director of the University Park Health Center, will lead the center.
About the Engemanns
Michele Dedeaux Engemann was elected to the USC Board of Trustees in 2006.
She is past president of the USC Alumni Association, having earned a bachelor's degree from the USC School of Theatre in 1968. She was the founding chair of the School of Theatre's Board of Councilors and remains on its board. An accomplished actress, she has performed with the Nine O'Clock Players Theatre for Children in Los Angeles for more than four decades and chairs the Pasadena Playhouse Board of Directors.
Roger Engemann formed Engemann Asset Management, previously known as Roger Engemann and Associates, in 1969. The company, which was sold to Phoenix Investment Partners in 1997, specialized in long-term growth equity investment management. When Roger retired as its president and CEO in 2005, the company had approximately $5.6 billion under management. Roger currently serves on the board of trustees of Scripps College and the Business Advisory Council of the Lundquist School of Business at the University of Oregon, his alma mater. He also is an overseer at the Huntington Library and a director of the Huntington Medical Research Institute.
Michele's other USC activities include service as president of the Trojan League of Los Angeles and as chair of the USC Alumnae Coordinating Council, where she remains a lifetime board member and adviser. She is a life member of Town & Gown, Skull and Dagger, Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, USC Associates-Presidential, the University Hospital Guild, the Trojan Guild of Los Angeles and the Friends of the USC Libraries Board. She received USC's Alumni Service Award in 2001.
The Engemanns live in Pasadena and have four children: Suzanne, Susan, Carrie and Alex.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the health center is scheduled at 3:30 p.m. on April 4 at Parking Lot L, the building's future site located along Jefferson Boulevard. The entire Trojan Family is welcome to attend.
