By Christina Schweighofer
Robert Skinner JD 1990 cannot remember a time when he didn't feel the pull of USC or the desire to be a part of the Trojan Family; as a kid, it was the only school he ever talked about. But his route to the university, where he is a member and former chair of the USC Gould Board of Councilors, was still roundabout.
As a high school senior in San Juan Capistrano, when he received an invitation from USC to apply, he ignored what was in his heart and followed instead the advice of a college advisor to attend a small academic institution. That is something he now chuckles about. "Ironically," he says, "my favorite teacher in high school happened to also teach at USC." Realizing that the small college was not the right fit, he transferred to USC's business school as a sophomore and never again wavered in his allegiance to the university. "I saw the error of my ways," he says, "or maybe it was just fate."
Skinner's career path also took some detours. "I've had a fairly circuitous path to things," he says. After graduating from USC in 1985, he worked for a couple of years as a market researcher for a commercial real estate service firm in Ventura and for a developer in Huntington Beach. When that second employer was getting ready to retire, Skinner decided to return to USC for law school. In the fall of 1987, on the day preceding the start of classes, he listened as former Dean Scott Bice welcomed him and his fellow 1Ls. "It was a little bit of pep talk and a little bit of you're in for some hard work," Skinner says. The strangers he sat between at the event have remained two of his best friends to this day.
After law school, Skinner spent almost seven years with the law firm of White & Case in Los Angeles. In 1997, again feeling the pull of the real estate business, he moved to Santa Barbara to join his uncle's development and property management company but eventually settled on banking. Now the chief innovation officer and general counsel for Montecito Bank & Trust, he says that USC Gould was instrumental in training him as a lawyer and in shaping him as a business person. "You gain this framework for problem solving that is really valuable no matter what you choose to do," he says. And yet, the university's biggest gift to him is something that goes beyond the benefits of an outstanding education. "It is a sense of connection," he says, "a really strong bond to both the place and the people."
Skinner, who sees the same thing happening for his oldest daughter, a USC sophomore, readily admits that outsiders will occasionally doubt the sense of belonging. But for Skinner the Trojan bond has always been real. He still remembers when he was his daughter's age and applying to the business school; after finishing an admissions interview on campus, he walked down Trousdale Parkway to call his family from a pay phone.
"How was it?" his mom asked. "I'm home," he said.
