University of Southern California

Office of the President

C. L. Max Nikias

USC’s 11th president, C. L. Max Nikias is an accomplished scholar and innovator whose 19 years at USC have been characterized by vision and a talent for seeing and seizing opportunities. From his creation of a multimedia research center and his energetic tenure as dean of engineering, to the pacesetting initiatives he set in motion as USC’s provost, he has helped propel USC toward its goal of becoming one of the most productive and influential research universities in the world.
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From the Office of the President

Two USC Professors Receive French Knighthood

Topics: Globalization, News

USC Professors Kelvin Davies and Enrique Cadenas with Consul General of France David Martinon, USC Provost Elizabeth Garrett and USC President C. L. Max Nikias (photo/Dennis Martinez)

By order of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, two USC professors have been knighted in recognition of their services to France and to science. Enrique Cadenas, Charles Krown/Pharmacy Alumni Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Kelvin J. A. Davies, holder of the James E. Birren Chair in Gerontology, were named Chevaliers de l’Ordre National du Mérite (knights of the National Order of Merit) during a ceremony at the residence of the consul general of France in Los Angeles on May 9, 2012.

Read the full story at USC News.

Student Leaders Pass the Torch

Topics: News, USC Students

Monish Tyagi, C. L. Max Nikias, Mike GeragosUSC President C. L. Max Nikias (center) meets with the USC student leaders Monish Tyagi (2011-2012 SGA president, right) and Mike Geragos (2012-2013 SGA president, left) as they transition the responsibilities of student government.

USC Honors Holberg Prize Winner Manuel Castells

Topics: Globalization, News

USC President C. L. Max Nikias, University Professor Manuel Castells, and Dean Ernest J. Wilson III of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (photo/Steve Cohn)

On May 3, 2012, USC hosted a reception honoring University Professor Manuel Castells, the most cited communication scholar in the world. A professor of communication and sociology and holder of the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Castells was awarded Norway’s 2012 Holberg International Memorial Prize, cited by the Holberg Prize Academic Committee as “the leading sociologist of the city and new information and media technologies.”

At the reception, held in Founders Park, USC president C. L. Max Nikias presented Castells with a special commendation from the university.

Read more about Castells’ award at USC News.

Presidential priorities

  • Transforming USC into a major hub of the emerging Age of the Pacific—by creating trans-Pacific alliances, by fully utilizing Los Angeles as a laboratory for trans-Pacific research, education and culture, and by building the foremost network of Pacific leaders.

  • Ensuring that the USC academic community serves as a key engine of intellectual, economic and cultural progress for the nation, and allowing its vast array of disciplines to be combined creatively in order to catalyze new knowledge and innovation.

  • Ensuring that USC promotes imagination and invention by creating a living and learning environment in which the university’s undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty are fluent in a wide variety of intellectual areas, ranging from classical literary works to the latest digital technologies.

  • Serving the neighborhoods around our two campuses through job creation and quality k-12 education. Further strengthening the legendary traditions of the Trojan Family.

  • Leading USC during the most ambitious fundraising campaign ever announced by an American university. This historic endeavor will raise $6 billion to support USC's faculty and students, as well as its academic priorities, capital projects, and essential infrastructure.