LONG BEACH -- According to legend, the beauty of Helen of Troy launched 1,000 ships.

Beginning this fall, the generosity of Doris Westcott whose USC classmates elected her "Helen of Troy' in 1929 and '30 might just launch 1,000 careers.

The 95-year-old Long Beach resident recently donated $500,000 to USC's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology to create the Doris T. Westcott Endowed Fellowship Fund. Westcott's bequest will perpetually pay for one student's two years of graduate study.

On Thursday, officials from the Davis School and students who have benefited from Westcott's previous gifts gathered for a luncheon in her honor at the Bixby Knolls Towers Retirement Residence.

"We're celebrating a wonderful gift that Doris made to the university,' said Mickie Faris, associate dean for development. Faris explained the Doris T. Westcott Endowed Fellowship will be awarded every two years to the top student found through a competitive, nationwide search.

Westcott, who was the principal of Compton High School for 25 years before retiring in 1970, said that gerontology is naturally interesting to a 95-year-old.

"It's the study of aging, and as people are getting older, they need more understanding of the process,' she said. "A person's age is not known by chronological years, but by their attitudes, how willing they are to get out and meet people.'

The lively Westcott certainly encouraged every guest at her luncheon to get out and meet people, especially the students supported by scholarships she's previously established at USC and Cal State Long Beach.

"It's helped me so much. Basically, it allowed me to volunteer at USC's Tingstad Older Adult Counseling Center instead of working,' said Taya Varteresian, 24, a recipient of the Doris T. Westcott Scholarship who will receive her master's degree in gerontology in May. "I'm learning so much more.'