By Valerie Turpin

The Interactive Media Division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts has the backing and attention of many top video game companies and personalities. This July, Activision Blizzard executive George Rose joins their ranks by establishing the Rose Family Foundation Fellowship for Interactive Entertainment.

“SCA’s Interactive Media Division is without peer, and produces the best and most innovative young talent,” said Rose. “By establishing this Fellowship, it is my hope to direct the attention of the best and the brightest minds to not only to game design but to how the games can be used in new and unexpected ways. This area is challenging and exciting and proves that limits to game design and interactivity are truly boundless.”

George Rose is a veteran executive in the video game industry, spending the past 17 years with Activision Blizzard, the largest and most successful video game publisher in the world. He has served as its former Chief Public Policy Officer and Chief Legal Officer and now as Senior Consultant to the Activision Blizzard CEO. Rose is responsible for defining many of the legal and business conventions established by the video game industry and is considered one of the nation’s authorities on the legal and policy issues related to children and video game play. He also held a leading role in Brown vs. EMA, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutional right of free speech in the context of video games.

The fund is intended to support, encourage and educate new voices at the USC School of Cinematic Arts by providing students with tuition and fee assistance. Over the next five years, funds will be awarded to two students per year who are enrolled in the Interactive Media Division (IMD) and are creating interactive projects within the areas of health, wellness, education or other innovative areas. The students will be known as the Rose Family Foundation Fellows.

“The Rose Family’s generous gift is precisely the kind of support that allows us to provide an exceptional educational environment for our students,” said SCA Dean Elizabeth M. Daley. “Our Interactive Media Division is second to none in the world and the fund will go a long way to encourage deserving students to further their studies in game design and other emerging media.”