VITERBI SCHOOL - Key Persons

Andrew J. Viterbi's Legacy Andrew Viterbi earned one of the first doctorates in electrical engineering ever granted at USC. The "Viterbi Algorithm", a mathematical formula to eliminate signal interference, paved the way for the widespread use of cellular technology, and catapulted Viterbi into the limelight of wireless communications worldwide. Today, the Viterbi Algorithm is used in all four international standards for digital cellular telephones, as well as in data terminals, digital satellite broadcast receivers and deep space telemetry. Viterbi is also the co-developer of CDMA -- Code Division Multiple Access -- the most widely used cell phone technology in the U.S. Andrew J. Viterbi's inventions - led by his influential algorithm - are just one aspect of what has long been a major strength of USC's Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of Engineering: digital information technology.

Andrew Sims

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

Andrzej Banaszuk

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Member of the Corporate Advisory Board
United Technologies Research Center

Anne Sutanto

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Member of the China & East Asia Advisory Board

Anthony Levi

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Chairman - Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering ( Electrophysics )

Ashok Das

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Member of the India Advisory Board

Bill Huang

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Member of the China & East Asia Advisory Board

Bing Janson Shi

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Member of the China & East Asia Advisory Board

Blair Lake

bl..@usc.edu

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Senior Director, Corporate Relations

Catherine M. Chorness

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Stewardship Officer

Chengyu Fu

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Member of the China & East Asia Advisory Board
USC Trustee

Christine M. Napolitano

ch..@usc.edu

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Assistant Dean, Advancement

Christopher James - CFO

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Chief Financial Officer

Biography Chris joined the USC Viterbi School of Engineering as the Chief Financial Officer in the fall of 2019. Directly responsible for the financial strategy and management of the school, Chris leads the Viterbi Business Affairs Financial and Research Administration Teams. In 2015, Chris joined USC to help create the USC Bovard College and manage the financial operations of USC's Office of Strategic Global Initiatives. While there, he developed the financial plan used by the USC's Board of Trustees to approve the new college, which combined existing programs like USC Summer Programs, USC International Academy, and American Language Institute, with new programs like the Masters of Science Human Resources. Chris also was responsible for the financial and banking compliance for the various USC international offices located in Asia, Europe and South America. Prior to coming to USC, Chris held positions in finance and education where he had a reputation for building analytical prowess in organizations using effective models and reporting tools to give decision makers needed intel to make informed choices. Chris holds a Masters in Science in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Utah.

Craig Knoblock

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Vice Dean of Engineering and Michael Keston Executive Director, USC Information Sciences Institute

Dan Erwin

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Chairman - Department of Astronautical Engineering

Dana Zeidan

dz..@usc.edu

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Development Coordinator

Daniel J. Epstein

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Department of Industrial
USC Trustee

Daron Green

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Member of the Corporate Advisory Board

Dave Ranson

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Member of the India Advisory Board

Dave Wachtel

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

David D'Argenio

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Interim Chair - Biomedical Engineering and Chonette Chair in Biomedical Technology

David Eun

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Member of the Corporate Advisory Board

Elizabeth G. Nesbitt

en..@usc.edu

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Director, Advancement

Ellis Meng

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Vice Dean of Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Chair in Convergent Bioscience

Emily Brink

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

Erik A. Johnson

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Professor of Civil Engineering
Vice Dean for Academic Programs

Biography Erik is Professor of Civil Engineering in the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, where he previously served as Associate Chair and Interim Chair. He earned B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Graduate Certificate in Biblical Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Erik is the recipient of a 2001 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a 2005 Junior Research Prize and Medal from the International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability, and a 2016 Distinguished AE Alumnus Award from the University of Illinois. He is a senior member of AIAA, and a member of both ASCE and ASME. He has served as the Chair of two ASCE technical committees and as an associate editor of the ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics. Erik currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Automatic Control Council. His research interests include "smart" structures, control and monitoring of structural vibration, controllable damping devices, random vibration, and computationally-efficient simulation algorithms for dynamical systems.

Erna Viterbi

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Chairman in Communications at USC

Feng Deng

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Chairman of the China & East Asia Advisory Board

Franklin Cheng

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

Gaurav Sukhatme

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Executive Vice Dean of Engineering

Gautam Y. Trivedi

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Member of the India Advisory Board

Gilroy Vandentop

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Member of the Corporate Advisory Board

Ginsburg Hall

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History

Greg Moran

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Member of the India Advisory Board

Hao Wu

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Member of the China & East Asia Advisory Board

James Hale

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Senior Director, Corporate Relations

Jane Ong

ja..@usc.edu

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Director of Development

Janet Boachie

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

Jeff Zhao

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Member of the China & East Asia Advisory Board

The India Board serves many functions: to advise the dean; advocate for the school in India; strengthen ties with India alumni; and raise philanthropic support in the area of education. The board is the first ever such advisory body for U.S. engineering schools and reflects the growing ties of USC Viterbi in India. Dean Yannis C. Yortsos characterized its formation as "an important step to cementing and further building the strong relationship between the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and its Indian constituencies."

Jessica Ruiz

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Administrative Assistant

John Mork

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USC Trustee

John Murnane

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Member of the Corporate Advisory Board

Julia Scheibmeir

ju..@usc.edu

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Director, Advancement

K. Ananth Krishnan

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Member of the India Advisory Board

Kaci Silverman

ka..@usc.edu

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Associate Dean for Advancement
Major Gifts
Senior Associate Dean, Advancement

Kelly Goulis

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Associate Dean for Admission and Student Engagement

Ken Bonner

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Associate Dean for Inclusion and Diversity Initiatives

Ken R. Klein

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USC Trustee

Kenneth Koo

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Member of the China & East Asia Advisory Board

Kevin Potgieter

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

Kevin Wei

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Member of the China & East Asia Advisory Board

Kimberly Bregenzer

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Vice Dean for Administration and Finance

Kim took on the role of Viterbi's Vice Dean of Administration & Finance in February 2021 and serves as the School's Chief Operating Officer. Kim provides strategic direction and oversight for three main areas: administrative and financial operations, human resources & payroll, and space planning and facilities. Kim joined USC two years ago as the Chief Financial Officer in the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. As a member of the Dornsife Dean's leadership team she was responsible for strategically leading, planning, and organizing the financial functions of the Dornsife College, as well as the management of Dornsife's Research Administration Team. Prior to working at USC, Kim served six years as the Chief Financial Officer at Columbia's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, where she was a key advisor to the Dean and the Department Chairs. In that capacity she had direct oversight and management of accounting, payroll, procurement, financial planning & analysis, budget, grants administration and risk management. She was also involved in HR management, faculty affairs, communications, facilities management, information technology, space planning functions, and physical plant operations.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

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Member of the India Advisory Board

Kumar Sivarajan

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Member of the India Advisory Board

Laura Pochowski

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

Leo Chu

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Member of the China & East Asia Advisory Board

Lisa Callahan

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Member of the Corporate Advisory Board

Lisa Mitchell

li..@usc.edu

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Senior Director, Foundation Relations

Luis Pineda

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Member of the Corporate Advisory Board

Lydia Froemelt Madden

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

Lyssa Aruda

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

Maged M. Dessouky

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Chairman - Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Dean 's Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Mahta Moghaddam

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Vice Dean for Research and Ming Hsieh Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering - Electrophysics

Marian Croak

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Member of the Corporate Advisory Board

Mark A. Stevens

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USC Trustee

Merie Ludena McGrath

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Member of the Emerging Leaders Board

Michael Chung

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Associate Dean, Office of Communications & Marketing

Biography After both teaching and running an award-winning agency, Michael Chung brings his decades of design, branding and marketing expertise to lead USC Viterbi's Office of Communications and Marketing. Prior to his current post, he taught at the USC School of Architecture in the core design curriculum as well as seminar courses and lectures on visual communication, literacy and design thinking. His professional work includes brand management and campaigns for clients as diverse as Warner Bros., Occidental College and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He holds design and architecture degrees, respectively from UC Berkeley and Yale. Holding title to the rare trifecta of faculty, staff and alumni, he also earned his MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business.