Learn: Faculty

Our Faculty

Your undergraduate classes are taught by world-renowned experts in their fields: leading scholars and active professionals who continue to explore new ideas, develop new technologies and contribute to the world’s store of knowledge. You will have the opportunity to discuss your ideas, receive feedback on your class projects, and be personally introduced to the worlds of high-level research and creativity.

USC faculty are winners of hundreds of academic and professional honors, including the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Pulitzer Prize, the Pritzker Architecture Prize, Academy, Emmy, and Grammy awards, and awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Seventy-five faculty have become members of the prestigious National Academies, advisors to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine.

Other measures of our faculty’s intellectual clout include the amount of research funding they receive — $956 million for the 2020-2021 fiscal year — and their long list of life-changing inventions, celebrated books, prize-winning performances and TV news appearances.

“My faculty mentor, Dr. Megan McCain, has taught me to persevere and not be afraid ...”

—Celeste Goodwin, San Pedro, California

Faculty Profiles

Below are just a few of USC’s outstanding scholars.

Kyle Abraham

USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance
Claude and Alfred Mann Endowed Professor in Dance

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Francille Wilson

USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, History and Gender, and Sexuality Studies

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Garrett Reisman

USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Professor of Astronautical Engineering at USC | Senior Advisor at SpaceX

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Maryam M. Shanechi

USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Andrew and Erna Viterbi Early Career Chair | Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering

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Viet Thanh Nguyen

USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
University Professor | Aerol Arnold Chair of English | Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature

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Nina C. Young

USC Thornton School of Music
Assistant Professor | 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition

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Distinctions

Nobel Prizes
Angus Deaton, James Heckman, George Olah, Daniel McFadden, Murray Gell-Mann, Arieh Warshel

Pulitzer Prize
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Gary Cohn, Michael Parks

MacArthur Fellowships
Luis Alfaro, Elyn Saks, Jacob Soll, Josh Kun, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Natalia Molina, Jay Rubenstein, Kyle Abraham

National Medal of the Arts
Morten Lauridsen, Frank Gehry, George Lucas

National Humanities Medal
Kevin Starr

Emmy Award
Tom Abrams, Geoffrey Cowan, Jay Kuo

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
T.C. Boyle

National Science Foundation Career Award
Maja Matarić

National Academy of Sciences
17 Members

National Academy of Medicine
18 Members

National Academy of Engineering
40 Members

American Association of the Advancement of Science
97 Members

American Academy of Arts and Sciences
34 Members

American Philosophical Society
5 Members

National Academy of Public Administration
14 Members

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