Policy/Law

Attorney Charles Cale named USC trustee

Alum has played a prominent role with the U.S. Olympic team over the years

April 04, 2016 Lynn Lipinski

Attorney Charles Cale ’66 has been elected to the USC Board of Trustees.

“Chuck Cale is an exceptional leader who has distinguished himself in both business and sports, and we are delighted to welcome someone of his stature to our Board of Trustees,” USC President C. L. Max Nikias said. “A passionate and longtime supporter of USC, especially of Trojan Athletics, Chuck also has played a prominent role with the U.S. Olympic team over the years, making him a tremendous asset to our university in the years ahead.”

Cale, the managing member of Griffin Opportunities, LLC, an investment company, served as group vice president of sports for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. He also held positions as the Assistant Chef de Mission of the U.S. Olympic team at the 1988 Seoul Games and director of the delegation for the U.S. Olympic team at the 1992 Barcelona Games, the co-chairman and chief executive officer of World Cup USA 1994, and a special assistant and member of the board of directors of the U.S. Olympic Committee. He received the Gold Medal of Youth and Sports from the Republic of France in 1984.

He has been a steadfast supporter of academic priorities across the university as well as USC Athletics, where he and his wife, Jessie, endowed the Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics’ Chair in 2011. He is a member of the USC President’s Leadership Council and a longtime member of the USC Associates.

He earned a master’s degree from the USC Gould School of Law following an LL.B. from Stanford Law School. He practiced law in Los Angeles with the firms Adams, Duque and Hazeltine as well as Morgan, Lewis and Bockius. He served as a member of the board of directors of NIKE Inc. and Century 21 Realty of Canada and was a founding board member of the Women of Troy.

Cale’s wife, Jessie ’74, earned a bachelor’s degree from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Their three children, Walter, Elizabeth and Whitney attended USC. Walter earned his MBA in 2012 from the USC Marshall School of Business and Elizabeth her bachelor’s in neuroscience in 2008.