November 12, 2025
Dear Trojan community,
I’m energized and inspired by the extraordinary interest and enthusiasm throughout our community surrounding this week’s inaugural USC AI Summit. With standing-room-only attendance and many more people participating online, the momentum is palpable for us to play a leadership role in the higher education artificial intelligence revolution — creatively, quickly, ethically, and responsibly.
At the summit, we announced USC’s plans to bring OpenAI’s ChatGPT Edu to the community, expanding opportunities for research, teaching, and student engagement across the university. We also heard from distinguished speakers and panelists, including:
- Eric Schmidt, KBE, Executive Chairman and CEO, Relativity Space; former CEO and Chairman, Google
- Leah Belsky, VP and General Manager of Education, OpenAI
- Beong-Soo Kim, Interim President, USC
- Nate Fast, Associate Professor of Management and Organization; Director, Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making, USC Marshall School of Business
- Inderbir Gill, Chair and Distinguished Professor of Urology; Executive Director, USC Institute of Urology, Keck School of Medicine of USC
- Ron Guerrier, Doctoral Candidate, USC Rossier School of Education
- Benjamin Hall, Business Librarian, USC Libraries
- Megan Jordan, Vice President, Executive Communications and Strategic Initiatives, USC
- Sam Nastase, Assistant Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- David Nelson, Director, MxR Lab, USC Institute for Creative Technologies
- Phebe Vayanos, Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering; Co-Director, USC Center for AI in Society
We invite you to visit the new AI@USC website – a central hub for AI updates, events, and resources. To continue the conversation, please share your feedback by completing this brief survey.
Please join us at upcoming events, including the CET Fall Faculty Showcase: AI in Teaching, hosted by the Center for Excellence in Teaching tomorrow (November 13).
Thank you for your continued engagement as we advance USC’s AI strategy together. I look forward to seeing many of you at our ongoing events including round tables, workshops, and AI fair.
With my sincere gratitude,
Geoff Garrett
Dean, USC Marshall School of Business
Chair, President’s AI Strategy Committee