- About
About USC Gould
USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 120-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.
- Academics
Academics
Learn about our interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential learning opportunities and specialized areas.
Student Quick Links:
- Admissions
Admissions
USC Gould helps prepare you for a stellar legal career. You can pursue a JD degree, one of our numerous graduate and international offerings, or an online degree or certificate.
- Students
Students
Participate in an unparalleled learning experience with diversity of people and thought. Get involved in the law school community and participate in activities that enhance your studies.
Student Quick Links:
- Careers
Careers
We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.
- Faculty
Faculty
Our faculty is distinguished for its scholarship, as well as for its commitment to teaching. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio creates an intimate and collegial learning environment.
- Alumni and Giving
- Admissions

Elyn Saks honored for efforts to lessen stigma of mental illness
USC Gould School of Law
- ABOUT USC GOULD
- A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
- + HISTORY OF USC GOULD
- LAW, RACE AND EQUITY
- + NEWS
- + EVENTS
- BOARD OF COUNCILORS
- CONSUMER INFORMATION (ABA REQUIRED DISCLOSURES)
- VISIT US
- SOCIAL MEDIA
- + CONTACT US
Monday, March 20, 2023
Prof. Saks earns 2023 President’s Award from Schizophrenia International Research Society
By Heidi Ried-Gonzaga

“I am so honored and delighted by this award,” Saks stated. “A lot of people with mental illness are ignored and overlooked, which just compounds the value [of this award] for me.”
The SIRS President’s award is designated for pioneering and collaborative contributions to the understanding of mental illness.
Saks, founder and faculty director of the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics, noted that putting a human face on mental illness is an important step toward understanding.
“Helping to reduce stigma means putting my own face and experiences out there, which can be risky for some people, but I have the privilege of wonderful friends, family and job security,” says Saks, who made her own mental health journey public through the bestselling memoir, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness.
Saks, who won a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship (also known as a “Genius Grant”) for her memoir, also has been honored in recent years by the American Psychiatric Association with its 2022 Patient Advocacy Award, was co-winner of the 2021 Pardes Humanitarian Prize awarded by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and in 2020, was given the Association of American Law Schools Section on Law and Mental Disability Distinguished Service Award, which was renamed the Section on Law and Mental Disability Elyn R. Saks Lifetime Achievement Award.
The President’s Award and other SIRS Honorific Awards will be presented during the opening session at the SIRS 2023 Congress in May in Toronto, Canada.
Read More
RECENT NEWS

A lifelong love of storytelling
September 18, 2023

USC Gould welcomes JD class that raises standards of achievement
September 18, 2023
New 1L class is the most academically accomplished on record at the law school

Facing the tragedy of war
September 13, 2023
Professor Marcela Prieto’s new book, “The Morality of the Laws of War,” argues for strengthening international law to el...