Schwarzenegger creates USC think tank

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a partnership with the University of Southern California to establish a bipartisan think tank.

The USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy will seek solutions to environmental problems, economic policy, political reform and other public policy issues, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"How do you negotiate when you have two parties, how do you bring the ideology of those two together to come up with something that is beneficial to all people and not get stuck on ideology. This is another important issue we're going to deal with," Schwarzenegger said Wednesday.

The institute will initially be funded by $20 million from Schwarzenegger as a personal donation as well as money from his fundraising efforts, the Times reported.

As part of the partnership, the former Republican governor has been appointed as the Gov. Downey Professor of State and Global Policy at USC, a position named after John Downey, the first foreign-born governor in California, the newspaper said. His first lecture is planned for December, and the institute's first symposium is scheduled for Sept. 24.