Health care advocate Mitchell Lew named USC trustee
Physician, health care entrepreneur and longtime USC volunteer Mitchell W. Lew ’83, MD ’87 has been elected to the USC Board of Trustees. Lew is CEO of Prospect Medical Systems, an independent physician association with a network of primary care physicians, specialists and affiliated hospitals throughout Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.
In May 2012, Lew became the first Asian-American president of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors. Previously, he served as president of the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association (APAA) from 2009 to 2011.
“Mitchell Lew is an accomplished physician, a farsighted businessman and an extraordinary Trojan,” said USC President C. L. Max Nikias. “His dedication to advancing our academic mission, and to raising awareness about USC’s accomplishments in teaching, research and community service, is unflagging. I look forward to his contributions as a member of our Board of Trustees.”
Lew, who holds a bachelor’s in biological sciences from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and a Doctor of Medicine from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, worked for 10 years in private practice in obstetrics and gynecology before moving over to the business side of medicine. Recognizing the need for better-organized and more cost-efficient health care delivery systems, he founded Genesis Healthcare, a Southern California-based managed services organization. As president and CEO, Lew built Genesis into a major player in the Orange County market before selling it to Prospect in 2005.
Lew has also worked to shape the delivery and management of health care through his involvement with the California Association of Physician Groups, which is dedicated to improving health care quality and value.
His passionate involvement with the Trojan Family extends across the university. Lew serves on the Board of Councilors at USC Dornsife and the USC Associates Board of Directors. He and his wife, Deena ’85, also a USC graduate, have established scholarships with the APAA and at USC Dornsife, and are benefactors of programs such as the university’s Joint Educational Program and the Lew Distinguished Visiting Innovator program at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Lew and his wife are proud parents of Trojans Amanda ’13 and Troy.
