On Feb. 3, 1983, the University of Southern California Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital and Research Institute (USC Norris) was dedicated. Ground was broken in 1979 for the Hospital and Research Institute. Among the donors was Kenneth T. Norris Jr., the son of one of USC’s – and the medical school’s – most influential benefactors, Ken Norris Sr., who had raised funds to help build the Health Sciences Campus.

In 1973, the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center was designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of the first eight comprehensive cancer centers.