Viterbi Springs Centennial

Spring at Viterbi… It is a wonderful time. It is the culmination of a year of relentless efforts in teaching and research. Students graduate and carry with them all the rich experiences they have accumulated from their interaction with Viterbi faculty and staff. New students will join us in the fall, and the cycle will recommence… It is this renewal process — the farewell to the graduates and the welcome to the new ones next fall — that we are celebrating.

As this academic year comes to a close, I can only say that it has been my privilege the past year – our 100th Year – to steer the magnificent ship of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

During the past century, a tiny regional technical program at USC has blossomed into an international engineering and technology powerhouse. One with outstanding faculty, students and staff, that is winning tough competitions with top universities for national research centers.

To celebrate our 1100100 (think binary!) years we held a high-profile series of academic lectures and a gala party at the California Science Museum. They were nothing short of magnificent! If you walk through the Engineering Quad, and pass by the new Ronald Tutor Hall you cannot miss the colorful banners that display our pride in the school’s history.

And I am very fortunate and proud to share more good news about the school:

Since last June, four of our junior faculty won highly competitive National Science Foundation Career awards. Another, Elaine Chew, received the PECASE or Presidential Early Career Award given annually to only 50 young academics in science and engineering. Our faculty, the lifeblood of all institutions of higher education, continues to thrive and grow in stature.

And by (mathematical?) harmony, we have some very recent wonderful news to end the year: On April 24, 2006 Len Adleman, the Henry Salvatori Chair in Computer Science, and winner of the 2003 Turin prize, and Bob Hellwarth, the George T. Pfleger Chair in Electrical Engineering, were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS)! One day later, we learned that Len Adleman was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)!

With these elections, Len and Bob have now joined a very elite group, one that holds simultaneous memberships in the three academies AAAS, NAE (National Academy of Engineering) and NAS! And I am very proud that the Viterbi community now counts four members (along with Sol Golomb and Andy Viterbi) with this remarkable distinction!

During the past year, we have also seen two loyal and visionary alumni step forward to boost the Viterbi School higher. John Mork and his family named the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. And in this issue you will read in detail about Ken Klein’s passionate plan to nurture engineering undergraduate students.

With the Klein Institute for Undergraduate Engineering Life, or KIUEL (pronounced “cool”), a new paradigm in engineering education is emerging at USC. This resource recognizes that each engineering undergraduate is a precious commodity and we believe that it is unique in the country. Ken Klein explained the purpose of his new institute this way:

“It’s an institute with the sole purpose of making the life of the undergraduate engineering student better,” he said on March 30 at the event celebrating his gift. “That means easier, balanced, fulfilling, comfortable...”

On their journey to become engineers, Viterbi students not only learn from a demanding curriculum, they also receive the benefits that come from the overall collegial experience outside the classroom, be they in building community, service learning or in USC’s initiative on the Arts and the Humanities.

The Viterbi spring is centennial — and “cool”…

Yannis C. Yortsos
Dean
USC Viterbi School of Engineering