USC announces presidential search committee, interim leadership

USC on Wednesday announced details of the search for the university’s next president and named USC Senior Vice President and General Counsel Beong-Soo Kim as interim president beginning July 1. In November, Carol Folt announced her decision to retire as USC president at the end of the academic year; she will remain on the university faculty.

In a letter to the university community, USC Board of Trustees Chair Suzanne Nora Johnson and Vice Chair David C. Bohnett announced the creation of a Presidential Search Committee to be led by USC Trustees and alumni Carmen Nava and Mark Stevens. The committee will include faculty, staff members, students and alumni with a variety of perspectives across the Trojan Family; a full list of committee members is online.

“In addition to their deep roots and commitment to USC, Carmen and Mark are established leaders in business and in the community, and their wisdom and judgment — along with their strong belief in the benefits of collaboration — will be tremendous resources throughout the search and recruitment process,” Nora Johnson and Bohnett wrote.

The committee will gather input from across the USC community to define the desired characteristics of the next president and will recommend a small number of highly qualified candidates to the Board of Trustees for interview and selection. Details on the process will be provided soon.

Russell Reynolds Associates, one of the nation’s top leadership advisory and executive search firms, has been retained to assist the committee.

To keep the community informed throughout the search process, a dedicated presidential search website has been launched.

Ensuring a seamless transition

Since Folt announced her plans to step down as president, “we have been moved by the many conversations we have had with members of our Trojan Family expressing their gratitude for all she has done for USC,” Nora Johnson and Bohnett wrote. “We thank President Folt for her visionary leadership and for steering the university through some of the most significant periods in its history.”

Nora Johnson and Bohnett noted Folt’s groundbreaking presidential moonshots, her commitment to students, and the university’s record research funding, as well as Folt’s development of an extraordinary team of academic and administrative leaders.

Kim — who will assume the interim presidency after Folt’s retirement as president on June 30 — has served as USC’s senior vice president and general counsel since July 2020. He has advised the president and worked closely with the Board of Trustees and senior academic and university leadership on a wide range of high priority and strategic issues.

“Beong has demonstrated impeccable character, strong and collaborative leadership and a broad understanding of our academic research and medical enterprises, as well as our athletics programs,” Nora Johnson and Bohnett wrote.

“He also possesses a deep commitment to the university’s academic, research and health care missions and our aspirations for excellence in all that we do,” they said, citing his strong relationships with deans, faculty and staff across the university and Keck Medicine of USC.

Kim will not be a candidate for the permanent position. Interim leadership of the Office of General Counsel will be announced at a later date.

“We are as optimistic as ever about USC’s future,” Nora Johnson and Bohnett wrote. “We hope the plan we have developed for the search and recruitment process will lead to deeper connections and a renewed sense of unity within the Trojan Family.”