LA Foundation Became Lucrative Source of Income for USC Athletic Director, Relatives

Seventeen years ago, former University of Southern California and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Pat Haden joined the board of an old, little-known charitable foundation that helps needy young people get an education.

The George Henry Mayr Foundation, established in 1949, has no office of its own, no full-time staff and no website. Its founder and namesake wanted it to be a thrifty operation that gave as much scholarship money as possible to California educational institutions.

Under Haden's leadership as board chairman, however, the $25-million foundation became a lucrative source of income for him and two of his family members—even as its scholarship spending plunged to a three-decade low and the size of its endowment stagnated, a Los Angeles Times investigation has found.