From Martin Kaplan, Norman Lear Center director and holder of the Norman Lear Chair in Entertainment: "Traditional 10th Anniversary presents are tin, aluminum and diamonds. (Who comes up with this stuff?) But please, no gifts - except a share of your attention. The Lear Center was launched a decade ago when Norman Lear made an extraordinary gift to the USC Annenberg School to support a unique center of research and innovation. As you'll see here, the Lear Center's work is more relevant than ever. And as you'll see here, we've been on quite a roll. Thanks for letting us keep you posted during the decade ahead."
More from Kaplan: "The Norman Lear Center gets its name from a man whose belief in the power of entertainment to degrade and to do good, to demagogue and to uplift, to be both gloriously silly and urgently relevant, made him an industry pioneer. It was launched 10 years ago when he made an extraordinary gift to the USC Annenberg School to support a unique center of research and innovation. Its mission is to study and shape the impact of media and entertainment on society, and - immodestly - to illuminate and repair the world. In case you've ever wondered what the place I work actually does, that's the answer. Thank you, Mr. Lear, not only for making it possible, but also for having the vision to know that it was necessary."
Thank You, Norman Lear
10 of the Lear Center's Favorite Things
