John Mork looks forward to giving back to USC


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John Mork’s long relationship with USC came to a peak last Monday when USC announced that the B.S. ’70 and M.S. ’12 alumnus would become the next Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

To live and to serve · B.S. ’70 and M.S. ’12 alumnus John Mork will take over as head of the Board of Trustees. John Mork (left) and his wife Julie have donated over $110 million dollars to USC in the past decade. - Photo Courtesy of Steve Cohn / USC

To live and to serve · B.S. ’70 and M.S. ’12 alumnus John Mork will take over as head of the Board of Trustees. John Mork (left) and his wife Julie have donated over $110 million dollars to USC in the past decade. – Photo Courtesy of Steve Cohn / USC

After finishing his undergraduate career in petroleum engineering, Mork founded the Energy Corporation of America, based in Denver.

With his wife Julie, John Mork donated $15 million to the Viterbi School of Engineering in 2005 and $110 million to provide scholarships to low-income students in 2011.

John Mork sees his new position as his way of giving back to the university.

“I owe ’SC a lot,” John Mork said. “It’s such a great institution that I was thrilled to serve.”

Before John Mork, Edward P. Roski Jr. led the Board of Trustees for five years.

“I think that I am so lucky to follow the leadership of Roski and Stanley Gold,” John Mork said. “They’re just off-the-charts good, and if you look, universities become great when they have multiple, consecutive, exceptional leaders and presidents.”

John Mork noted that the university has seen an incomparable rise in the past few years. In the most recent U.S. News and World Report national university rankings, USC climbed the chart to number 24, rising 27 places since 1991.

“I don’t think I could get into ’SC now,” John Mork joked. “It has changed so much: the quality of the leadership, the administration, the quality of the professors and the quality of the students.”

This rise in quality has inspired John Mork to continue USC’s success.

“’SC is so blessed and it has a wildly blessed future,” John Mork said. “I think my job is to serve the university and to facilitate President C. L. Max Nikias’ good work — I’m a servant in the deal.”

Mork believes that the key to USC’s advancement lies in trust — trust in the professional staff from workers at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center to the Board of Trustees.

“I’d like to treat others how I’d like to be treated from the top to the bottom,” Mork said. “And I guess I’ll be a little demanding: I will demand excellence of myself as I serve ’SC and command excellence from everyone.”