C. L. Max Nikias was named president of USC in March 2010, with his appointment beginning in August 2010. Previously he was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Southern California on June 1, 2005.

Nikias joined USC's faculty in 1991 and served as dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering from 2001 to 2005. As dean, he oversaw dramatic improvements in the quality of students, research growth, fundraising for the endowment, and the expansion of distance learning programs. The USC Viterbi School became a research powerhouse, consistently ranking among the top 10 engineering schools in the United States.

During this time, Nikias was instrumental in bringing major research institutes to USC, all of which continue to benefit the university. He was the founding director of two national research centers at USC: the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) on Integrated Media Systems and the Department of Defense Center on Communications Signal Processing.

He has also supported the Viterbi School's Information Sciences Institute and worked with faculty across the university to establish the two NSF ERCs, as well as the Department of Homeland Security's first Research Center of Excellence.

As a scholar, Nikias is internationally recognized for his research on integrated media systems, digital communications and signal processing, and biomedicine. He is also a passionate advocate of the arts and humanities. Throughout his time at USC, he has partnered with faculty from the college and most of the professional schools to promote interdisciplinary research and education. He has mentored more than 30 Ph.D. and postdoctoral students.

Nikias authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, 180 refereed conference papers, three textbooks, and eight patents. Several of his publications and patents are in the field of translational medicine, including invasive and non-invasive methods for the detection and classification of myocardial ischemia, on which he worked in collaboration with the University of Maryland Hospital and Buffalo General Hospital. He has consulted extensively for the U.S. Government and high-tech industry during the past 20 years. He has also testified before the California Legislature on the impact of digital technologies and communications on the entertainment industry and on the California economy.

Nikias has received numerous awards and honors for his research and teaching, including three Best Paper Awards. The National Technological University, a consortium of top research universities engaged in distance education, recognized him as an outstanding teacher. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology. The California Governor honored him with a formal commendation for cutting-edge research. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi.

Nikias serves as a member of the board of directors for the Lord Foundation of California, the Pacific Council on International Policy, and the Alfred Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering at USC, and as a member of the board of trustees of the Thomas Rivera Policy Institute, and the Chadwick School, an independent school in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California.

A native of Cyprus, Nikias graduated with honors from the Famagusta Gymnasium, a school that emphasized history and Greco-Roman classics. He also received a diploma from the National Technical University of Athens. He earned an M.S. and Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. The University of Cyprus awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Nikias lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, California with his wife, Niki, and their two daughters.

He served on the CCST Board of Directors from January 2006 through January 2008.