The University of San Francisco has announced a $15 million gift from alumnus and composer Gordon Getty ('56) to establish an honors college.

The gift, which matches the largest ever to the university from an individual donor, includes a $7 million endowment for scholarships for honors college students and a $2 million endowment in support of visiting artists and scholars. The remaining $6 million will cover start-up costs and support student research, study abroad, and mentoring programs. To be launched in 2018, the new honors college will work to attract top students and deepen current honors students' studies of the arts, sciences, and humanities. Named the J. Paul Getty Honors Scholars, in memory of Getty's oil tycoon father, the program aims to raise a total of $35 million and eventually may include a living-learning community for honors students.

"We're very excited about the Honors College and how it's going to elevate the university," said USF provost Don Heller. "There's going to be scholarship support for students...which is very important, given the competitive market in which we find ourselves. This gives USF the ability to attract the best and brightest."

A half-century ago, when Getty asked his father for advice about what to study in college, the senior Getty suggested a broadly focused education in the humanities. Eventually, he chose USF, where he majored in English. "I asked [my father], 'Should I go to an oil and petroleum school'?" Getty recalled. "'Yes, if you want to,' [he] responded. 'But liberal arts would do just as well. The main thing is to learn how to learn'."