Attorney Barkett is new USC trustee

Outgoing USC Alumni Association Board of Governors President Lisa Denton Barkett ’81, an attorney in private practice and vice president of La Jolla, Calif.-based real estate investment firm Merjan Financial Corp., has been elected to a five-year term on the USC Board of Trustees.

“I am delighted to welcome Lisa Barkett to the USC Board of Trustees,” said President C. L. Max Nikias in making the announcement. “One of our most passionate and inspiring volunteers, Lisa truly embodies the Trojan spirit of giving back. For more than two decades, she has contributed on many fronts to helping advance the academic mission of her alma mater. I look forward to the creativity and insights she will contribute as a member of our board.”

In her role as president of the Board of Governors for 2011-12, Barkett focused on increasing the association’s visibility across campus and worldwide, and on strengthening the culture of philanthropy among the alumni community in support of the university’s $6 billion capital campaign.

Among many other activities, she co-hosted, with Alumni Association CEO Scott M. Mory, a Trojan Family Reception in Shanghai in October 2011 and played a leadership role in organizing the association’s fourth annual USC Women’s Conference, held in March with the theme of “Inspired & Empowered: Moving Forward!”

In addition, “to create an opportunity for alumni to give back to their local communities,” Barkett conceived the USC Alumni Day of SCervice, which will be held each spring in conjunction with USC Friends and Neighbors Service Day. The first event held in March brought together more than 1,500 alumni and friends to participate in volunteer projects organized by USC alumni clubs, representatives and other affiliated groups in 18 states and nine countries.

Barkett has served on the Board of Governors since 2007 and has been actively involved in the Trojan League Associates of San Diego County for the past 20 years. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the USC Libraries, the USC School of Theatre Board of Councilors and the Parent Leadership Council of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She was also a member of the USC Class of 1981 30th Reunion Committee and co-chaired the 2011 USC Alumni Awards Committee. In recognition of her longtime leadership and support, the Alumni Association honored her with the President’s Award at its annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner in September 2008.

Beyond the university, on appointment by Gov. Jerry Brown, Barkett serves on the Board of Directors of the 22nd District Agricultural Association for the State of California and on the Del Mar Fairgrounds Racetrack Leasing Commission. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.

Barkett and her husband of 27 years, Bill Barkett, reside in La Jolla. They have three children, all of whom are Trojans: Anthony, who served as president of Society 53, the Alumni Association’s student outreach program, in 2011-12, graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the USC Marshall School of Business in May; Jacqueline, an alumna of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, received her BA in communication in 2009 and her master’s degree in public diplomacy in 2011; and Joseph earned a BA (with an emphasis on cinematic arts) from USC Marshall in 2008 and a master’s in human behavior from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in 2011.

Barkett earned her BA from the USC Price School of Public Policy and her JD from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1984.