Marion McKinley Bovard

Marion McKinley Bovard (January 11, 1847 – December 29, 1891) was the first president of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. He led the school from when it started in 1880 until he passed away in December 1891. At that time, Los Angeles was a small city with only 11,000 people.

During his time as president, Bovard helped start many important parts of the university. These included the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in 1880, the School of Music in 1884, the College of Medicine in 1885, and what later became the School of Fine Arts in 1887. He was also there when the school created the early version of the Spirit of Troy and played its first college football game in 1888.

After Bovard died, the young school still had money problems. These challenges were then handled by his successor, Joseph P. Widney, M.D.