John Mork, an alumnus of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and his wife, Julie, made the donation.
The scholarships will pay for four years of college tuition and an annual stipend of $5,000 for high school seniors of "extraordinary intellectual talent and capability."
Mork is a USC Trustee and the chief executive officer of Energy Corp. of America, a privately held oil and gas company based in Denver.
