September 2025

USC & USC Dornsife News Stories

• Political discussions at USC Dornsife explore democracy’s biggest questions
  Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy
• What your DNA – and childhood – reveal about midlife decrease in IQ
  Christopher Beam and Deborah Finkel
• $4M grant from the John Templeton Foundation funds a new frontier in cosmology
  Vera Gluscevic, Dmitri Gallow and Aiichiro Nakano
• $5M grant strengthens USC Equity Research Institute’s mission for climate and economic justice
  Manuel Pastor and James Bullock and Ezinne Nwankwo (fellow)
• New faculty bring global perspectives to USC Dornsife
  Romina Wainberg, Ricardo Jose Goncalves Duarte Filho, Graeme Reynolds, Venya Gushchin, Eleanor Gordon-Smith, Harry McCarthy and Christian Campbell
• New faculty strengthen USC Dornsife’s social and natural sciences departments
  David Schönholzer, Michael Droste, Milena Djourelova, Heather Kosakowski, Katharina Kircanski, Samuel Nastase, Valentina Gonzalez-Rostani, Eric Kramon, Michael-David Mangini, Meredith McLaughlin, Peter Haine and Ahmed Elbanna
• USC Dornsife chemist wins major grant from new US-UK quantum initiative
  Stephen Bradforth
• Scientists warn California should prepare for destructive ‘supershear’ earthquakes
  Yehuda Ben-Zion and Ahmed Elbanna
• Want to save an endangered species? Start with the right DNA blueprint
  Jazlyn Mooney
• USC researchers win $8M NIH grant to pursue novel Alzheimer’s drug
  Vsevolod Katritch
• From lab to conference: How travel awards shape USC chemistry careers
  Cesar Reyes and Zhaohong Sun (PhD students)
• $3M NSF grant funds new USC Dornsife mathematics research and training program
  Sheel Ganatra

The Conversation Articles / Op-eds / Other Scholar-Written Articles

• Los Angeles Is Contaminated Now
  By: David Ulin – The New York Times
• ¿Por Qué MAGA?
  By: Manuel Pastor – Dissent
• How Witnessing Violence Impacts Brain Development — and What Colleges Can Do
  By: Mary Helen Immordino-Yang – Inside Higher Ed
• The Dirty Move Republicans Could Pull to Keep the House
  By: Steve Posner – The Bulwark
• Bangladesh’s Caretaker Government Has Reoriented Its Foreign Policy
  By: Derek Grossman – World Politics Review

E-newsletters

• Sept. 10: Student Newsletter
• Sept. 25: Alumni Newsletter

Videos

• L.A. Could See Damaging “Supershear” Earthquake, Scientists Warn
  Yehuda Ben-Zion and Ahmed Elbanna
• USC’s Legacy of Excellence In and Out of the Arena
  Manuel Pastor, Charles Lehnen (PhD student), Barry Thompson, Will Berelson and Karen Lloyd
• Dean James Bullock, USC Dornsife’s 23rd Dean
  James Bullock
• The Trojan Legacy: In Research, In Athletics
  Manuel Pastor, Charles Lehnen (PhD student), Barry Thompson, Will Berelson and Karen Lloyd
• Nothing beats golden hour on campus
  Campus locations

Questions or comments about this USC Dornsife Brief? Email us at communication@dornsife.usc.edu.