(AllHipHop News) Super-producer Dr. Dre (born Andre Young) and influential music executive Jimmy Iovine are using parts of their substantial fortunes to help cultivate the next generation of music business moguls. It was announced that the pair is giving the University of Southern California $70 million to create a new music academy.
“The vision and generosity of Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young will profoundly influence the way all of us perceive and experience artistic media,” said USC President C.L. Max Nikias in a statement.
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The four-year program will teach undergraduates the necessary skills to be successful in the music industry. Courses focusing on engineering, computer science, fine arts, graphic design, business, and leadership training will be taught by members of USC’s Thorton School of Music, Roski School of Fine Arts, Marshall School of Business, and Viterbi School of Engineering.
According to a statement issued by USC, “industry icons and innovators as visiting faculty and guest speakers” will also take part in the program. It will also provide one-on-one mentoring by professors.
“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,” said Erica Muhl, the first director of the new academy, in a statement.
USC’s Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation is set to open in the fall of 2014 with an initial class of 25 students.
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