An estate gift from the late Ronald Steel supports an endowed professorship and upholds the role of the public intellectual in foreign policy.
Robert Steel, photo courtesy of The Wilson Center
The late USC Professor Emeritus Ronald Steel was unique in academia: an independent public intellectual who shaped the way foreign policy issues were understood by a broad audience—whether students, national leaders, or policymakers.
Through his estate, Steel provided a gift of $6 million that will continue his legacy by establishing the Ronald L. Steel Professorship for the Study of American Foreign Policy. It also will support career development for young professionals focused on public discourse and policy issues who are equivalent in stature to a postdoctoral fellow, but who—like Steel—may not necessarily have a doctorate degree. The professorship coincides with the university’s growing presence in Washington, D.C., at the USC Capital Campus.
“This far-sighted gift is a wonderful testimony to his life and his appreciation of USC,” said Susan Sherwin, a friend of Steel’s and trustee of his estate. “He was an elegant, inventive thinker who didn’t come to his position at USC as a standard academic.”
Steel, who died in 2023 at age 92 in Washington, D.C., was a professor of international relations at USC for more than 20 years. An internationally recognized critic of U.S. foreign policy, he wrote hundreds of essays and seven books, including the definitive biography of Walter Lippmann, who is considered the dean of American political journalism in the 20th century.
“He is a role model for the public intellectual devoted to enhancing public understanding of international relations,” said Abe Lowenthal, professor emeritus of international relations at USC. “The more we have of it, the more likely it is we’ll have better informed policies that emerge from the complex policy-making process.”