How USC launched an alum’s TV career – and a very unusual dissertation 

Toper Taylor was attending his first class in governance at the USC Price School of Public Policy when his professor mentioned something that would lead to one of academia’s most unusual dissertations.

“In the opening class he said, ‘This is quantum physics,’” Taylor recalled of that first class with Professor Emeritus Peter Robertson. “And over a course of about four or five weeks he talked about the fact that we’re all composed of energy and particles, and therefore we’re all interconnected to the universe and to each other.”

The topic inspired him to soak up everything he could about quantum physics until an idea emerged: If quantum physics connects all of us to one another, could our thoughts affect other people?

“I found myself up until two or three in the morning reading 400-page books like I was drinking water,” Taylor recalled. “And I started paying attention to my innate intellectual curiosity, how this subject is obviously pulling me somewhere, and that intention could be a North Star. So, I said to Peter, has anybody ever done a dissertation in this area of our thoughts impacting others?”

Apparently not. Taylor was the only student studying for a Doctor of Policy, Planning, and Development (DPPD)  who had ever wanted to pursue the idea. The question was how to measure the impact of remote thoughts.

Robertson suggested using swimmers.

Taylor’s study, which is described in his dissertation titled Human Performance Intention Experiment, measured whether “energetic positive intentions” improved the performance of 22 NCAA Division 1 swimmers from USC. The students were separated into three groups who received: intentions from an experienced shaman; intentions from an electronic broadcast device in Arizona; intentions from both. Swimmers from several other universities constituted a control group. 

Taylor is about as far as you can get from a New Age zealot. He lives in a tony, gate-guarded community not far from Palm Springs. He built a successful career as an Emmy Award-winning television producer and now has as a business advisory firm, Media Disrupted. He was recently sworn in as mayor of Indian Wells, a city known for golf, the BNP Paribas tennis tournament, and high-end resorts.

If there is one thing that defines him, it’s curiosity. And that’s what led him to conduct his unconventional experiment.

“It was the most intellectually stimulating thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Taylor said, “because it did what a doctorate degree is supposed to do, which is push your thinking in ways that you never imagined when you entered the program to stimulate your mental process and expand your mind to new opportunities.”

And his experiment indicated that, yes, sending positive thoughts from remote locations can improve athletic performance.

 “The results were statistically significant (.022). There is enough improvement in performance and outcomes from athletes receiving intention from the electronic intention device and shaman that further research is warranted,” according to Taylor’s dissertation, which was completed in August 2024.

For the record, the electronic intention device outperformed the shaman.  

He is currently in discussion on his next intention experiment enabling innovation on medical breakthroughs with a team of medical doctors and scientists.

How USC – and a Golf Game – Launched a Career

Taylor, a former television executive who specialized in children’s programs, is a triple Trojan. In addition to his doctorate, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Communication from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and a Master in Health Administration (MHA) from the USC Price School.

He also serves on the Board of Councilors for the USC Roski School of Fine Arts & Design, the USC Cinematic Arts Alumni Association, and he is the recipient of the USC President’s Volunteer Award.

His USC education not only informs his new job overseeing a small city of about 5,000 residents, it sparked a TV career that would produce more than 15,000 episodes, including hit children’s shows like Franklin the Turtle, Arthur, Caillou, and Rolie Polie Olie. 

His first job in the entertainment industry came through a USC connection – and golf, which is ironic given his experience with the game at the university when he considered joining the team as a walk-on, coming off a four-year stint on the varsity team at Menlo-Atherton High School.

“I heard a sound on the driving range I’d never heard before, which is the club hitting the ball,” he said of his first encounter with the USC golf team. “And it wasn’t my club hitting the ball, it was everyone else’s on the driving range. I realized very quickly that I wasn’t good enough to make the traveling team. So, I put the clubs in the back of my car for the first time in my life.”

But not long before he finished his undergraduate degree, and at the behest of then USC President James Zumberge, USC Trustee Bob Wood invited him to play 18 holes at the Bel Air Country Club. The game would launch his career.

It turned out Bob was the former president of CBS and was betting – literally – on Taylor playing well against a couple of other golfers. After a rocky start, Taylor found his swing on the back nine and shot even par — and his host pocketed a tidy wad of cash. The outcome also got Taylor an invitation to a lunch that day with two more of Hollywood’s power elites, television producer Joe Hamilton and CAA co-founder Rowland Perkins, which led to a job at the William Morris Agency, one of the world’s leading talent agencies.

After the producer, agent, and network executive described their work, Bob asked, “Who do you want to work for?” Taylor recalled. “And I went, what? So I said, ‘Well, probably the agency because they have their hands in all the business elements of the industry, film, television, commercials, music, et cetera.’ What’s funny is the other two guys shook their heads and more money was exchanged. So, they clearly were betting on which career path I was going to choose.”

The fact that his career was launched by a USC Trustee and alumnus left a lifelong impression.

“To this day,” he said, “there isn’t a person who knows me that doesn’t know that my number one passion in life is to support the University of Southern California.”

What Government Gets Right

These days, Taylor spends his free time as a volunteer public servant. In addition to being mayor of Indian Wells, he recently founded the advocacy group Coachella Valley for Clean Air and he is a member of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, the Riverside County Transportation Commission and a governance committee member of the League of California Cities.

“Let’s put it this way,” he said, referring to his volunteer activities. “It’s a lot closer to a full-time job than I signed up for.  But my doctorate in public policy from Price gives me a strategic advantage.”

As a former television executive, Taylor values good storytelling. His own talent for it was evident when he was recently sworn in as mayor of Indian Wells by Christopher Boone, Dean and C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair of the USC Price School.

“Among other priorities, the Price School aims to prepare graduates for public service careers,” Boone said. “I was thrilled when Dr. Tayler asked me to swear him in as the next mayor of Indian Wells. I know he will represent the Trojan family and Price alumni exceedingly well in this new role.” 

“There isn’t a person who knows me that doesn’t know that my number one passion in life is to support the University of Southern California.”

Toper Taylor

His acceptance speech was a clever and engaging paean to the value of government services. He noted the many ways that the government touched his life that day, from the utilities that powered his home to the police that kept his community safe.

“I grabbed a quick breakfast eating food inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and had my vitamins, which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” he said during his speech.  

“I got into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved car to drive here on roads built and maintained by a combination of the Riverside County Transportation Commission and the City of Indian Wells.”

His speech ended by quoting an email from a constituent, who wasn’t exactly sending the “energetic positive intentions” that Taylor studied.
“I turned on my computer to review any urgent emails on the internet, which … was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration,” he concluded.  “I read an email from one of our residents that said, ‘Dr. Taylor, I fear you don’t know what you’re in for being Mayor, government CANNOT do anything right.’”