Message from the Dean

There will be hugs on move-in day and tears on graduation day. There will be lectures and workshops and lively debates. And there will be football in the Coliseum again.

A photo of Dean Amber Miller

After a tumultuous year and a half, we at USC Dornsife are anticipating the return this fall to our vibrant campus environment. We will welcome one of the most talented and diverse first-year classes in our history, composed of students from across the country and around the world. A backlog of events, celebrations and applied learning experiences will present countless opportunities. And our faculty will bring their cutting-edge ideas and challenging intellectual questions back into the classroom. This will be one of the most exciting times ever to be part of the USC Dornsife community.

With so much to look forward to, we are pleased to share this issue of USC Dornsife Magazine, which explores the theme of revival and rejuvenation from multiple angles.

The pandemic has taken a tremendous toll on many Americans, but the United States seems to have reached a clear turning point. While the virus is still ravaging much of the world, in this country COVID-19 case numbers and deaths are dropping, and life is rapidly returning to some form of normal. This is due in no small part to the intellectual talent and laboratory infrastructure that is housed in our world-class research universities. From DNA sequencing and the discovery of messenger RNA to social science research that has helped to make vaccinations available in underserved populations, our research universities have been responsible for many of the breakthroughs that have enabled COVID-19 vaccines and their delivery — and a huge fraction of the underlying scientific knowledge developed over decades that made these breakthroughs possible.

But our work is far from over. The pandemic has accentuated societal problems that have existed for decades, emphasizing the need to meet another set of challenges with similar urgency. How do we take what we’ve learned about technology to improve education, work, infrastructure and supply chains? How do we take what we have learned about inequity to build a future in which everyone has the access and opportunities to enrich their lives? How do we, as a global community, take what we have learned about international collaboration to address complex global challenges such as climate change?

With our ambitious community of faculty, students, staff, alumni and friends, USC Dornsife will use this moment of revival to see the world with fresh eyes. Together, we will make it our goal to define better questions, forge stronger collaborations, and leverage the resilience we’ve gained during the past year to pursue the most creative solutions to pressing challenges.

Amber D. Miller
Dean, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Anna H. Bing Dean’s Chair