The Los Angeles Times reports that University of Southern California is looking to create a think tank to work on “bipartisan policies on environmental protection, the economy and other public policy issues.” The intellectual figure behind this endeavor? Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
According to an article Carla Rivera in the Los Angeles Times:
The USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy will be funded with a commitment of $20 million from the former governor that will include a personal donation as well as money from his fundraising efforts. USC officials said the endowment is expected to be fully funded within two or three years. Schwarzenegger’s initial gift is confidential, officials said.
“When you think back of everything I’ve done — body building, training people, writing about diet and food supplements and promoting movies and entertainment — I’ve always been interested in making sure other people can benefit from my experience,” Schwarzenegger said in an interview. “And it’s the same with this. It would be a shame to think what I learned from my governorship over seven years … ways of solving problems — will now be left behind and no one will benefit.”
This may be the first time anyone has ever used bodybuilding experience to validate the creation of a think tank.
The star of “Hercules in New York,” “Kindergarten Cop,” and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” will, though the institution, serve as the Gov. Downey Professor of State and Global Policy at USC.
