Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California, United States, is the location for Seaver College, the School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy. Courses are taught in Malibu, at six graduate campuses in southern California, and at international campuses in Germany, England, Italy, China, Switzerland, and Argentina.
History
Early years
In February 1937, against the backdrop of the
Great Depression, George Pepperdine founded the University as a Christian liberal arts college in the city of Los Angeles. On September 21, 1937, 167 new students from 22 different states and two other countries entered classes on a newly built campus on at West 79th Street and South Vermont Avenue in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of
South Central Los Angeles , referred to later as the Vermont Avenue campus. By April 6, 1938, George Pepperdine College was fully accredited by the Northwest Association.
Pepperdine had built a fortune founding and developing the Western Auto Supply Company, which he started with a $5 investment, but his prosperity led to his greater ambition to discover "how humanity can be helped most with the means entrusted to [his] care. [He] consider it wrong to build up a great fortune and use it selfishly." Mr. Pepperdine voiced his twofold objective for the college that bore his name, "First, we want to provide first-class, fully accredited academic training in the liberal arts ... Secondly, we are especially dedicated to a greater goal—that of building in the student a Christ-like life, a love for the church, and a passion for the souls of mankind."
Move to Malibu
By the 1960s, the young college faced serious problems. The area around the Vermont Avenue campus developed issues with crime and urban decay; tensions also arose due to the
Civil Rights Movement and attempts to circumvent it such as
California Proposition 14, which challenged federal
fair housing laws. Similarly, another November 2007 fire in Corral Canyon, accidentally set off by a group of Los Angeles youths, caused an evacuation of the Drescher Campus. However, most students were off-campus for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Campus
The main campus is located among several ridges that overlook the
Pacific Ocean and the
Pacific Coast Highway in
Malibu, California. The main campus entrance road ascends a steep, well-groomed grassy slope past a huge stylized cross, known as the Phillips Theme Tower, symbolizing the university's dedication to its original Christian mission. Most buildings were constructed in a typical 1980s-style reinterpretation of classic Californian and
Mediterranean architecture (red tile roofs, white stuccoed walls, large tinted windows). There are views of the Pacific Ocean,
Catalina Island,
Palos Verdes Peninsula,
Long Beach and the westside of Los Angeles from numerous points. Graduations take place at Alumni Park, a broad expanse of lawn overlooking Pacific Coast Highway and the Pacific Ocean. The main academic plaza for undergraduate programs of Seaver College lies just above Alumni Park and includes Stauffer Chapel, Tyler Campus Center, Payson Library, and the Ahmanson Fine Arts Center. Undergraduate housing and athletic facilities sit to the north/northwest of the academic complex. The Law School exists even higher above these areas. The central campus is surrounded by a loop road consisting of Seaver Drive, Huntsinger Circle, and John Tyler Drive. Banowsky Boulevard separates Alumni Park from the main academic complex and is named in honor of William S. Banowsky, the 4th president of Pepperdine.
Spur roads to the east of the central part of campus lead to faculty housing. To the northwest, Via Pacifica winds uphill to the Drescher Graduate Campus, completed in 2003 and home to the School of Public Policy, the Villa Graziadio conference center, as well as the fulltime programs of the Graziadio School of Business and Management and the Graduate School of Education and Psychology. Housing for graduate students, undergraduate honors students, and faculty are also located here.
Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art
Recent noteworthy exhibitions in the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art include:
Roy Lichtenstein: January - March, 2011
David Gallup: Channel Islands: May 2011
Graduate campuses
The
Graziadio School of Business and Management and the
Graduate School of Education and Psychology are headquartered in
West Los Angeles at the
Howard Hughes Center next to
Interstate 405. These two schools also offer programs at graduate campuses in
Encino,
Irvine,
Santa Clara, and
Westlake Village. International programs of the University's various schools take place in
London,
Heidelberg,
Florence,
Buenos Aires,
Paris,
Madrid,
Lausanne,
Johannesburg,
Tegucigalpa,
Brisbane,
Chiang Mai,
Hong Kong and
Tokyo.
Academics
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Frank R. Seaver College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Seaver College is named for Mr. and Mrs. Frank R. Seaver, the principal benefactors of Pepperdine's Malibu Campus. The college offers undergraduates a liberal arts education, and each candidate for a Bachelor's Degree must complete a series of general education courses crossing disciplinary lines. Seaver College students attend classes at the Malibu main campus and study abroad courses are offered at the University's permanent international campuses in Germany, England, China, Italy, Switzerland, and Buenos Aires. Rick Marrs is the current dean.
Seaver College comprises 8 divisions and offers 40 majors (listed below), as well as 37 minors:
Business Division:
Accounting
Business Administration
International Business
Communication Division:
Advertising
Integrated Marketing Communication
Journalism
Public Relations
Media Production
Communication
Fine Arts Division:
Art
Art History
Music
Theatre Arts
Theatre & Music
Theatre & Media Production
Humanities and Teacher Education Division:
Creative Writing
English
Film Studies
History
Liberal Arts
Philosophy
International Studies and Languages Division:
French
German
Hispanic Studies
International Studies
Italian
Natural Science Division:
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science/Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics Education
Nutritional Science
Physics
Sports Medicine
Natural Science- Engineering 3/2 Program
Religion Division:
Religion
The Religion Division offers undergraduate and graduate education in ministry, administers a Center for Faith and Learning and an Office of Church Relations, and publishes Leaven: A Journal of Christian Ministry.
Social Science Division:
Economics
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology
In addition, the college offers the following graduate degrees: Master of Arts in American studies, Master of Arts in Communication, Master of Science in Communication, Master of Arts in Religion, Master of Divinity, and Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Screen & Television. Seaver students can also earn both single-subject and multiple-subject teaching credentials.
Pepperdine has six international branch campuses located in Heidelberg, Germany; London, England; Florence, Italy; Lausanne, Switzerland; Shanghai, China; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Graziadio School of Business and Management
Pepperdine University's George L.
Graziadio School of Business and Management enrolls approximately 2,000 students in its full-time and part-time degree programs. The school was founded in 1969, and has since graduated over 30,000 alumni. Dr. Linda Livingstone has served as Dean since 2002. In 2011, US News ranked Pepperdine 75th out of 437 business programs in the United States.
School of Law
The
Pepperdine University School of Law is located adjacent to the Seaver College Campus, and enrolls about 670 students who come from all parts of the country. It is fully approved by the
American Bar Association and is a member of the
Association of American Law Schools. The School of Law recently has attained membership in the prestigious
Order of the Coif. Pepperdine's
Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution is consistently ranked as the number one dispute resolution program in the country, offering LL.M., master's and certificate programs. Some of its other newer degree offerings include the juris doctor/master of divinity in conjunction with Pepperdine's Seaver College. Other joint degree programs include the JD/MBA, JD/MPP, and JD/MDR. The school offers both a summer session and a fall semester in
London,
England.
Thomas G. Bost is the interim dean.
The school placed 52nd among the nation's "Top 100" law schools by the 2011 U.S. News and World Report rankings and is the third highest ranked law school in Southern California. It is known for its entertainment law, and also its dispute resolution program, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Graduate School of Education and Psychology
With a focus on collaborative learning, leadership and academic excellence, the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) offers both masters and doctorate programs in education, educational technology, education administration, leadership, organizational change, organizational leadership, school counseling, psychology, and clinical psychology. Margaret Weber is the current dean.
School of Public Policy
Approximately 120 graduate students are enrolled in the
Pepperdine University School of Public Policy, which offers a two-year masters of public policy degree. Not simply the study of government,
public policy is the study of how governments, non-profits, and even individuals and businesses address problems of public concern. Students specialize in economics, international relations, American politics, or local/regional policy in addition to their core studies and are required to complete a policy-related internship.
Joint degree programs include the MPP/Juris Doctor degree in conjunction with the School of Law, the MPP/Masters of Dispute Resolution degree in conjunction with the School of Law's number one ranked Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution and the MPP/MBA degree in conjunction with the Graziadio School of Business and Management.
Notable figures scheduled to lecture and join an advisory committee are: James A. Baker III (former Secretary of State), William J. Bennett, Edwin Fuelner (President, Heritage Foundation), Steve Forbes (CEO and Chairman, Forbes, Inc.), Larry Kudlow, Edwin Meese III (75th Attorney General of the United States), and Michael Novak.
Notable faculty at the School of Public Policy include: Ted McAllister, James Q. Wilson, James Prieger (Senior Economic Advisor, FCC), Joel Fox, Angela Hawken, Gordon Lloyd and Robert Kaufman.
Notable graduates include at least one former member of the Bush Administration: Eryn Witcher, Director of Television.
The current dean of the Public Policy School is James R. Wilburn.
Presidents
Batsell Baxter (1937–39)
Hugh M. Tiner (1939–57)
M. Norvel Young (1957–71)
William S. Banowsky (1971–78)
Howard A. White (1978–85)
David Davenport (1985–2000)
Andrew K. Benton (2000–Present)
Athletics
Pepperdine University participates in the
West Coast Conference, a conference made up exclusively of religiously affiliated schools in which it is the only member that is not
Roman Catholic. Appropriate for its location adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, Pepperdine's teams are known as the Waves.
Pepperdine University was recently ranked by the Sears Cup as having the most successful athletic program for non-football Division I schools. (Stanford was ranked the most successful Division I athletic program with football.) Pepperdine University sponsors fourteen NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams: baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, volleyball and water polo teams for men; and basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis and volleyball for women. There are also a number of intercollegiate sports clubs such as men's soccer, men's and women's lacrosse, surf team, Ultimate Frisbee and men's rugby.
NCAA Division I Team Championships:
Baseball (1992)
Men's Golf (1997)
Men's Tennis (2006)
Men's Volleyball (1978, 1985, 1986, 1992, 2005)
Water Polo (1997)
NCAA Division I Individual Titles:
Robbie Weiss (1988 Tennis - Singles)
Carlos Di Laura & Kelly Jones (1985 Tennis - Doubles)
Jerome Jones & Kelly Jones (1984 Tennis - Doubles)
Notable alumni
Academia
Michael Shermer (B.S., 1976) - Founder of The Skeptics Society
Christopher Chetsanga (1965), Professor at University of Zimbabwe that discovered two DNA repair enzymes
Victoria Pynchon (Master of Law, 2006) - Writer, lecturer, mediator, adjunct law professor at Pepperdine University School of Law
Paul Egertson (B.A., 1955) - Senior Lecturer and Adjunct Professor of Religion at California Lutheran University
Mike Aamodt - industrial and organizational psychology professor at Radford University
Michael A. O'Donnell (1976-77), Ph.D., author, and former Professor of Family Studies at Abilene Christian University
Business
Neil Clark Warren (1956) - Chairman and Co-Founder of eHarmony.com
Rod Menzies (MBA, 1988) - entrepreneur
Robert Tchenguiz (LL.B., 1982) - London-based Property Tycoon
Entertainment
Lisa-Marie Kohrs -
Miss World USA 2009
Todd Matthew Burns - American film producer
Chace Crawford - Actor, Gossip Girl (TV series)
Kim Fields (1995) - actress, U.S. TV sitcoms The Facts of Life and Living Single
Kimberly Forsyth - Miss Arkansas USA 2006
Madison Hildebrand - Star of Bravo Channel's "Million Dollar Listing"
Darby Hinton - Actor, Daniel Boone
Adam Housley - Fox News Channel Los Angeles correspondent, former Milwaukee Brewers and Detroit Tigers baseball player
Ashley Jones - American actress
Montell Jordan - R&B; recording artist famous for his hit 1990s single, "This is How We Do It"
Tahj Mowry - Television actor best known for his role on the WB's Smart Guy
Tia Mowry - Television actress best known for her role on ABC and The WB's Sister, Sister and the BET's The Game
Tamera Mowry - Television actress best known for her role on ABC's Sister, Sister and Lifetime Television's Strong Medicine
Porntip Nakhirunkanok - Miss Universe 1988
Brandy Norwood - R&B; artist and actress
Eric Christian Olsen - American actor
George Schlatter - Emmy-winning American television producer and director, best known for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Matt "Money" Smith - Southern California sports radio personality
Clayton Snyder - Actor, on sitcom Lizzie McGuire
Bill Weir - Co-anchor of ABC News Nightline
Les Baxter - Soundtrack and exotica composer
Kelly Hu - Miss Teen USA 1985 and Actress
Cami Edwards - Cast member, ''Laguna Beach'
Brittany Dawn Brannon - Miss Teen America 2007
Media
Adam Housley (B.A. 1994) -National Correspondent Fox News Channel, Emmy Winner
Anna Song (B.A., 1999) - KATU investigative reporter, weekend anchor (1999–present), 2007 Emmy for Human Interest News Series, 2007 Regional Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting.
Politics and Government
Rod Blagojevich (J.D., 1983) - Former Governor of Illinois, 2003–2009
Henry Burns, (M.A.) - Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives since January 14, 2008
Talis Colberg (J.D., 1983) - Attorney General, State of Alaska
James Hahn (J.D., 1975) - Los Angeles Mayor, 2001–2005
Janice Hahn - Los Angeles City Councilwoman, 15th District
Theodore Kanavas - Wisconsin State Senator, 33rd District
Joel Kleefisch, 1993, Wisconsin State Assembly
Jami Miscik (1980) - Director of the Office of International Affairs,
CIA
Bernard C. Parks - Los Angeles City Councilman, 8th District, former Los Angeles Police Chief
Todd Russell Platts (J.D., 1991) - U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania, 2001–Present
Amb. Pierre-Richard Prosper (J.D., 1989) - United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues
Robin Sax {J.D., 1997}- Author, legal analyst, victim advocate, former prosecutor for Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Michelle Park Steel - Board Member, California Board of Equalization, 2006–Present
Chun Doo-hwan - ROK Army general and the President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988.
Sports
Alex Acker (2005) – Professional basketball player (2005–06; 2008–09 Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers)
Brandon Armstrong (2001) – Former professional basketball player (2001–04; New Jersey Nets)
Dain Blanton (1994) – 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist in Beach Volleyball
Paul Carroll (2009) – Australian Men's National Volleyball Team
Doug Christie (1992) – Retired professional basketball player (1992–2007; Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks & Los Angeles Clippers)
Ricardo Brown(1980) – basketball player drafted in 1979 by Houston Rockets; Southern California Player of the Year in 1979; Played professional basketball in the Philippine Basketball Association (1983–90); member of PBA Hall of Fame (2009) and Pepperdine University Hall of Fame (1995)
Bob Ctvrtlik (1985) – 1988 Olympic Gold Medal Volleyball Team Member, Member of International Olympic Committee
Richard Cho – Former General Manager of Portland Trail Blazers.
Yakhouba Diawara (2005) – Power Forward for the Miami Heat
Barry Enright (2007) – Pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Jim Everett - Former NFL QB. Received his MBA from Pepperdine.
Mike Fetters – Former professional baseball player (1989–2004; California Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks & Minnesota Twins)
Greg Genske – sports agent
Brad Gilbert (1982) – Former professional tour tennis player; prominent coach, of Andre Agassi's, Andy Murray
Jason Gore (2000) – Professional golfer
Dan Haren – Professional baseball player; 2007 A.L. All Star Starting Pitcher (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Ginger Helgeson-Nielsen – Former professional tennis player who holds the all-time match winning percentage at Pepperdine
Adam Housley (1994) – Former professional minor league baseball player. Drafted by the Montreal Expos
Katherine Hull (2003) – Professional golfer
Daniel Johnson (2008) - Professional basketball player (Adelaide 36ers, Australian NBL)
Dennis Johnson (1976) – Former professional basketball player (1977–90; Seattle Supersonics, Phoenix Suns & Boston Celtics)
Chad Kreuter – Former professional baseball player (1988–2003; Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, Anaheim Angels, Kansas City Royals & Los Angeles Dodgers)
Jennifer Lacy – Female Professional Basketball Player Phoenix Mercury & Atlanta Dream
Martin Laurendeau – Former professional tour tennis player
Mike Leach – Texas Tech head football coach 2000–2009
Noah Lowry – Professional baseball player (San Francisco Giants)
Glenn Michibata – Former professional tour tennis player
Merrill Moses (2000) – Water polo goalie for USA National Team (2008 Olympic Silver Medalist)
David Newhan – Professional baseball player (Houston Astros)
Will Ohman – Professional baseball player (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Rob Picciolo – Former professional baseball player (1977–85;
Oakland Athletics,
Milwaukee Brewers &
California Angels)
Steve Rodriguez, major league infielder for the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers, and a player and head coach for the Waves baseball team.
Sean Rooney (2004) – USA Men's National Volleyball Team (2008 Gold Medalist)
Dane Sardinha – Professional Baseball Player (Detroit Tigers).
Mike Scott – Former professional baseball player (1979–91; New York Mets & Houston Astros) & winner of the 1986 NL Cy Young Award
Jesse A. Smith USA Mens Water Polo Olympic Team 2000, 2004, 2008. (2008 Olympic Silver Medalist)
Andy Stankiewicz – Former professional baseball player (1992–98; New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Montreal Expos & Arizona Diamondbacks)
Andrew Sznajder – Former professional tour tennis player
Derek Wallace – Former professional baseball player (1996–99;
New York Mets &
Kansas City Royals)
Robbie Weiss – Former professional tennis player
Randy Wolf – Professional baseball player
Danny Worth – Professional baseball player (Detroit Tigers)
Notable faculty
Allen Fox (born 1939), tennis player (ranked as high as # 4) and coach
Rankings and reputation
The
Princeton Review ranked Pepperdine on the list of colleges with "Dorms Like Palaces" in 2004 and 2007 and #1 under "Most Beautiful Campus" in 2006 and 2007. Pepperdine also appeared on other lists including "Students Pray on a Regular Basis," and "High Quality of Life." Because of its Christian affiliation, some contend that the student body breeds a religious and politically conservative atmosphere. Princeton Review also ranked Pepperdine University #13 in its list "Alternative Lifestyles not an Alternative". In 2007 Pepperdine was named as "One of the Top Producing Colleges and Universities" by the
Peace Corps of America. The 2005 edition of the
Fiske Guide to Colleges has also noted Pepperdine as being one of the nation's largest conservative colleges.
U.S. News & World Report (see “Pepperdine at Glance” in the external links section) has ranked Pepperdine as the 53rd best national university for undergraduate education.
The School of Law placed 52nd among the nation's "Top 100" law schools by the 2011 U.S. News and World Report rankings and is the third highest ranked law school in Southern California. It is known for its entertainment law, and also its dispute resolution program, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation.
In 2010, US News ranked Pepperdine's business school tied with Santa Clara University at 82 in America. It ranked its part-time program 9th best in California. Forbes magazine has ranked the Graziadio School's Fully-Employed MBA programs in the world's Top 20 based on ROI.
In 2008, the magazine In Tune for music educators named Pepperdine one of the 38 best music schools in the United States. In 2009, the Sustainable Endowments Institute awarded Pepperdine a "C" for its sustainability efforts in the annual College Sustainability Report Card.
The Nickelodeon series, Zoey 101 was shot on Pepperdine's Malibu campus. Pepperdine signs were covered with trendy, purple signs reading "Pacific Coast Academy", the name of the boarding school attended by the students on the show.
Notes
External links
Official Website
Official Pepperdine Athletics Website
Pepperdine Review – U.S. News & World Report, “Pepperdine at Glance”
Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business and Management – Business Week Review
Category:Malibu, California
Category:Educational institutions established in 1937
Category:Universities and colleges in Los Angeles County, California
Category:Universities and colleges affiliated with the Churches of Christ
Category:Independent Colleges of Southern California
Category:National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities members
Category:Seminaries and theological colleges in California
Category:Business schools in California
Category:Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
