September 30, 2026
Dear Trojan Family,
I am pleased to announce that Professor David Madigan will be joining USC as its next provost and executive vice president of academic affairs on October 13, and that Megan Jordan has been appointed senior vice president and chief communications officer after having served in an interim capacity since January.
David Madigan
An accomplished academic leader and internationally respected scholar, David Madigan brings extensive experience guiding complex institutions, fostering creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration, and developing innovative approaches to research and education. At USC, he will hold the Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Provost’s Chair with joint appointments at the Marshall School of Business, the Keck School of Medicine, and the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
David joins USC after serving for five years as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Northeastern University, where he was the academic leader of a 14-campus global university system comprising 40,000 students and more than 3,000 faculty. He helped recruit more than 350 new faculty and extend Northeastern’s reach through new campuses across the country. He also dramatically expanded the scale and societal impact of the university’s research enterprise by bringing an interdisciplinary approach to critical research areas such as cognitive health and artificial intelligence.
Before joining Northeastern, David served for over five years as executive vice president and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University. His portfolio spanned five schools, 27 departments, and more than 50 research centers and institutes. During his tenure, he oversaw major fundraising efforts, including a successful $400 million campaign for Columbia College, the university’s liberal arts college. He also broadened Columbia’s professional studies programs, created new resources for first-generation students, strengthened support for faculty-student mentoring, and expanded the university’s international partnerships.
Prior to that broader role, David chaired the Department of Statistics at Columbia, building on his earlier faculty leadership at Rutgers University, where he served as dean of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. He began his academic career on the faculty at the University of Washington. A leading authority on Bayesian statistics—which uses probability to refine our understanding of events as new information emerges—he has authored more than 200 publications and led numerous global research collaborations. His scholarship reaches across disciplines, bringing together researchers from academia, government, and the private sector to use large-scale health data to improve the safety and effectiveness of medical treatments.
During his career, David has advised the FDA on drug safety and served as editor-in-chief of Statistical Science and Statistical Analysis and Data Mining, two leading journals in the field. He is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
David’s work extends beyond higher education, including positions with KPMG, Soliloquy Inc., and AT&T Labs. His private-sector experience has given him valuable insight into how universities can draw on technical expertise and industry partnerships to foster discovery and translate research breakthroughs into real-world impact.
A native of Ireland, David earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and his Ph.D. in statistics from Trinity College Dublin. His wide-ranging experience will be tremendously valuable as we strengthen USC’s academic preeminence; recruit, retain, and support our world-class faculty and students; and advance research that shapes the future.
The Provost Search Committee unanimously recommended David following a global search that attracted a stellar pool of candidates. I want to thank co-chairs David Bohnett and Yannis Yortsos and all our committee members for the dedication, diligence, and insight they brought to this important work, which drew on input from across the USC community.
I also want to thank Andrew Guzman for his distinguished leadership as provost over the past three years. We are deeply grateful for all he has done and will do for the university as he returns to the faculty at the Gould School of Law.
Megan Jordan
Since becoming interim senior vice president and chief communications officer, Megan Jordan has helped align the university’s communications around one of our highest priorities: advancing USC’s academic preeminence and impact around the world. Just a few weeks ago, she brought communications leaders from across the university together to establish a more unified, collaborative approach to how USC shares its work—one that brings the full strength of our 23 schools and health system to every story we tell. She has also recruited top talent from across media, entertainment, technology, and philanthropy to strengthen the team directing that work.
Megan is also leading our communications strategy for two major milestones: the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and USC’s 150th anniversary. Her multiyear communications and marketing plan will leverage these significant platforms to create lasting value for USC’s global reputation by showcasing our academic preeminence, breakthrough research, unique student experience, and generational impact on society.
A dedicated Trojan with a deep understanding of our university, Megan earned her bachelor’s degree in public relations from USC Annenberg. She teaches there as an adjunct professor and has served on its Center for Public Relations Board of Advisors since 2018. Earlier, she was chief communications and marketing officer at Claremont McKenna College and led communications teams at Southern California Edison, Herbalife, and Kaiser Permanente. She also advised global brands while at PR agencies MSL, Cohn & Wolfe, and Zeno Group. She is one of 18 Trojans in her extended family, including three of her four daughters.
Please join me in welcoming David to USC and in congratulating Megan on her appointment.
Fight On!
Beong-Soo Kim
President