$15 million gift from Massoud and Ferial Arvanaghi boosts sustainable energy research

USC alumnus Massoud Arvanaghi and his wife, Ferial Arvanaghi, have donated $15 million to support groundbreaking research in sustainable energy at the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, part of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

The transformative gift will fund three new endowed research fellowships, helping graduate students and postdoctoral researchers advance clean energy, energy storage, and carbon capture technologies — areas critical to addressing global climate challenges.

Two endowed funds honor renowned USC chemistry professors: Nobel Laureate George A. Olah and Distinguished Professor G.K. Surya Prakash. The third will bear the Arvanaghis’ names. All three will help ensure that the next generation of scientists has the resources to continue the Loker Institute’s vital work.

“This extraordinary generosity will help us advance sustainable energy technologies that benefit all of humanity,” said USC President Carol Folt. “It’s not only an investment in cutting-edge research, but in the talented students and postdocs who will shape the future.”

Massoud Arvanaghi earned his PhD in chemistry at USC Dornsife and conducted research at the Loker Institute during his graduate studies and as a postdoctoral fellow. He credits much of his scientific and professional success to the mentorship and guidance he received from Olah and Prakash.

Arvanaghi first became interested in chemistry almost by chance while attending Sharif University of Technology (then Arya-Mehr University) in Tehran. Although he struggled at first, an influential professor helped him discover his passion for the subject. That professor later encouraged him to apply to study with Olah, who had recently moved to USC.

After arriving in Los Angeles in the late 1970s, Arvanaghi joined Olah’s lab and met Prakash. The trio’s work would later play a key role in Olah receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1994 for his discoveries involving “superacids” and carbocations — previously elusive chemical species critical to understanding many reactions.

Following his academic career, Arvanaghi worked in the private sector as a chemist before eventually joining a small food science company. There, he met Ferial, a polymer scientist with a master’s degree from the University of Akron. The two not only shared a love of science, but also a strong entrepreneurial spirit.

The couple married in 1993 and bought the company where Massoud had been working. Over the next two decades, they transformed it into a thriving multimillion-dollar business, which they sold in 2016. Today, they run a new venture, Qualimax LLC — an analytical testing lab near their home in New Jersey.

Their gift to USC reflects a shared desire to give back and support future scientists, especially those just beginning their careers.

“I came to USC as a graduate student with nothing,” Massoud Arvanaghi said. “Olah and Prakash helped me find work, navigate challenges with visas, and feel at home. This gift is a thank-you to them and to USC — and a way to support others like me.”

USC Dornsife Interim Dean Moh El-Naggar called the gift “especially meaningful” because of its focus on supporting students and early-career researchers. “There has never been a more important time to invest in sustainable energy research,” he said.

With this gift, the Arvanaghis hope to create a lasting legacy that honors the people who shaped their path and inspires future scientists to lead the way toward a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable planet.