The University of Southern California (USC, SC, Southern Cal or SoCal) is a private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in California. The university is composed of one liberal arts school, the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and 22 undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, enrolling roughly 21,000 undergraduate and 28,500 post-graduate students from all 50 U.S. states and more than 115 countries. It is also a member of the Association of American Universities, which it joined in 1969. USC is ranked as one of the top universities in the United States and admission to its programs is considered highly selective. USC has graduated more alumni who have gone on to win Academy and Emmy Awards than any other institution in the world by a significant margin, in part due to the success of the School of Cinematic Arts, and has conferred degrees upon 29 living billionaires. USC's notable alumni include 11 Rhodes scholars and 12 Marshall scholars. , 10 Nobel laureates, six MacArthur Fellows, and one Turing Award winner have been affiliated with the university. USC is also the birthplace of technologies such as the Domain Name System, VoIP, DNA computing, transform coding, and dynamic programming. USC sponsors a variety of intercollegiate sports and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Members of USC's sports teams, the Trojans, have won 107 NCAA team championships, ranking them third in the United States, and 412 NCAA individual championships, ranking them third in the United States and second among NCAA Division I schools. As of 2021, Trojan athletes have won 326 medals at the Olympic Games (153 golds, 96 silvers, and 77 bronzes), more than any other university in the United States. USC has had 537 football players drafted to the National Football League, the second-highest number of draftees in the country. USC is the largest private employer in the Los Angeles area, with an estimated annual impact of $8 billion on the state of California. History The University of Southern California was founded following the efforts of Judge Robert M. Widney, who helped secure donations from several key figures in early Los Angeles history: a Protestant nurseryman, Ozro Childs; an Irish Catholic former governor, John Gately Downey; and a German Jewish banker, Isaias W. Hellman. The