Dear Trojan Family,
I’m writing to let you know the steps we’re taking now to ensure students finish their finals in a quiet, safe academic environment – and that our graduating students can enjoy peaceful and joyous commencement ceremonies worthy of their accomplishments.
I’m writing to give you an update. The recent events at USC have been hard on all of us – I know you’re seeing it, hearing it, and that you have many questions about how we’re maintaining safety, honoring free speech, and ensuring we can host our 141st commencement to give our graduates the celebration they have earned.
These past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for all of us. As your president, my responsibility is to uphold our Trojan values so that everyone who lives, learns, and works here can have safe places to live, learn, and speak.
We are excited to honor this year’s exceptional members of our faculty with University and Distinguished professorships, USC’s highest academic honors. We present these annually to select outstanding faculty who have brought great distinction and honor to our university through their work. Their research enlightens and enriches collective understandings outside of USC and contributes to the advancement of society.
I am writing today to let you know that I have appointed Shrikanth (Shri) Narayanan as vice president for presidential initiatives. This is a new role in my office, designed specifically to help the provost, senior vice president for health affairs, senior vice president for research and innovation, and me to implement cross-cutting, university-wide initiatives that involve multiple schools, locations, disciplines, units, and approaches.
I appreciate all of you who took the time to share your thoughts with us through the USC Culture Survey. Your anonymous feedback regarding our university culture – and the extent to which you see our Unifying Values being lived out through your experiences and interactions – are essential to the current and future path of USC.
Our longtime trustee Leonard D. Schaeffer and his late wife, Pamela, have given USC that opportunity with a transformational $59 million gift to establish the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service. This new institute, which will be anchored at the USC Capital Campus in Washington, D.C, will educate the next generation about government service and will conduct research to support evidence-based policy.
Today, I am excited to announce that Dr. Gaurav Sukhatme has been appointed the inaugural director of USC’s new School of Advanced Computing. This vibrant new hub is central to USC’s $1B-plus, 10-year Frontiers of Computing presidential moonshot.
Our spring semester is now well underway, and I have never been more appreciative to be part of this institution. At USC, we have an inspiring mission that affords us the opportunity to shape the world’s future through our contributions in every field imaginable.