The international law and economics expert and dean of the USC Gould School of Law will assume his new duties on July 1.
Andrew T. Guzman, noted scholar of international law and economics and current dean of the USC Gould School of Law, has been named USC’s next provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, USC President Carol L. Folt announced Tuesday.
As provost, Guzman will become USC’s second highest-ranking official and the chief academic officer, responsible for ensuring the university’s excellence in teaching, research and scholarship. He will hold the Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Provost’s Chair.
“Andrew will be a terrific partner in supporting our outstanding faculty, staff and students,” Folt said. “He brings a spirit of compassion, a love of innovation and a depth of experience to his new role. He and I are looking forward to working together to achieve our grandest goals.”
Guzman will assume his new duties on July 1, succeeding interim Provost Elizabeth Graddy, who has served in that position since Jan. 1. He replaces Charles Zukoski, who stepped down in December.
Dynamic changes at law school under new USC provost
Guzman’s stint as dean of USC Gould has seen dynamic change at the school. He introduced a new bachelor’s degree in legal studies, one of only a handful of degrees of its kind nationwide. He expanded clinical learning, including the new Housing Law and Policy Clinic, and oversaw the establishment of the Center for Transnational Law and Business.
“There are lot of reasons DEI is important,” he said. “The one that energizes me is: There’s very strong evidence that groups make better decisions when those groups are diverse. So, I’ve always tried to build diverse teams and diverse student populations. In our role of producing the leaders of tomorrow, we’d better be graduating a class that is deeply diverse, deeply other-regarding and deeply able to navigate the multicultural reality of our country.”
As he prepares to move into his new position, Guzman says that he’s looking forward to working with Folt, the deans and the rest of the USC community to build projects that will have enduring value to the university.
“I believe higher education is the real engine of success in our society,” Guzman said. “The opportunity to have this leadership position at an institution that has the scale, scope and excellence of USC is incredibly exciting.”