Former CCST Board Member Nikias Named President of USC

March 12, 2010

C.L. Max Nikias has been named the next president of the University of Southern California (USC). Nikias, a noted scholar internationally recognized for his research on integrated media systems, digital communications, and biomedicine, is a former member of the CCST Board of Directors and is a CCST Senior Fellow.

"Max Nikias is an outstanding person at an outstanding institution," said CCST Executive Director Susan Hackwood. "This is a well-deserved appointment."

Nikias has been executive vice president and provost at USC since 2005, where he has been credited with contributing to dramatic improvements in the quality of students, research growth, successful fundraising, and enhancing the university's globalization efforts; he was also instrumental in bringing major research institutes to USC which continue to benefit the school to this day. Nikias succeeds retiring president Steven Sample, who has led USC since 1991.

"I have long believed that Max Nikias is one of the country's most talented provosts," Sample stated in the announcement of Nikias' appointment. "I'm delighted to have a successor whose keen vision and energy will keep the university moving ahead at a rapid pace."

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 also a member of Phi Kappa Phi.

"CCST has benefited from Max's wisdom and guidance for years in his capacities as Board member and Senior Fellow, representing both the strength of his own experience and the voice of USC," said Hackwood. (The University of Southern California is one of CCST's sustaining institutions.) "All of us at CCST are looking forward to continuing to work with him in the years to come."