Rock icon Stevie Nicks has made a major donation to USC to complete a $3 million goal establishing the Stevie Nicks and Joseph Sugerman, MD, Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology. The chair honors Dr. Sugerman, a prominent Beverly Hills ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, USC alumnus, and adjunct faculty member who has spent nearly 50 years preserving the voices of performers and non-performers alike. Driven by an initial idea from patients Anita May and Arnold Rosenstein, the fundraising effort was supported by Nicks and a cohort of multiple other grateful donors and foundations looking to recognize Dr. Sugerman’s long-standing dedication to vocal health.
The inaugural holder of the new endowed chair is Dr. Michael M. Johns, a world-class expert in professional voice care and the director of the USC Voice Center, which he established in 2017. The center utilizes an interprofessional approach to advance vocal medicine, biomedical research, and healthcare provider education through its multiple clinics across Los Angeles. This endowment deepens Nicks’ historic connection to USC—which began in 1979 with a collaborative platinum recording of Fleetwood Mac’s 1979 track “Tusk” with the Trojan Marching Band—while allowing Dr. Sugerman, Dr. Johns, and Dr. John S. Oghalai to collaborate on building the preeminent Voice Center on the West Coast.