Combinatorics at USC is predominantly algebraic, with many faculty making connections to other fields of mathematics including probability, representation theory, algebraic geometry, finite group theory, and topology. We hold a weekly Combinatorics Seminar in addition to a selection of combinatorics graduate courses.
Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty
- Arratia, Richard (Probability, combinatorics, number theory)
- Assaf, Sami (Algebraic combinatorics, representation theory, algebraic geometry, probability)
- Fulman, Jason (Algebraic combinatorics and probability)
- Goldstein, Larry (Statistics, probability)
- Guralnick, Robert (Finite and algebraic groups, representation theory, curves, Galois theory, and linear algebra)
- Lauda, Aaron (Categorification, representation theory, and low-dimensional topology)
- Panova, Greta (Algebraic combinatorics, computational complexity, statistical mechanics and probability)
- Williams, Harold (representation theory, algebraic geometry, symplectic geometry)
Post-Docs and Visitors
- Gagnon, Lucas (combinatorics, representation theory, geometry)
- Garzoni, Daniele (combinatorial and geometric group theory)
- Huang, Yifeng (combinatorics and algebraic geometry)
Current Graduate Students
- Barch, Brian (co-advised by Lauda and Zanardi [Physics])
- Kim, Sung (advisor Lauda)
- Lulianelli, Filippo (advisor Lauda)
- Roman, Vlad (advisor Guralnick)
Recent Graduate Students
2025
- Armon, Samuel (Ph.D. 2025 advised by Assaf), Atoms, Kohnert’s Rule, and Science Fiction
2024
- Zhao, Chenchen (Ph.D. 2024 advised by Panova), On the Kronecker product of Schur functions
2023
- Bowling, Grant (Ph.D. 2023 advised by Assaf), Characters of Flagged Schur Modules and Compatible Slides
- Ebert, Mark (Ph.D. 2023 advised by Lauda), The Structure and Higher Representation
Theory of Odd Categorified sl2 - Ehrhard, Henry (Ph.D. 2023 advised by Assaf), Colors, Kohnert’s Rule, and Flagged Kostka Coefficients
- Paguyo, J.E. (Ph.D. 2023 advised by Fulman), Limit theorems for three random discrete structures using Stein’s method
- Wang, Shiyun (Ph.D. 2023 advised by Panova), Applications of Symmetric and Quasisymmetric functions
2022
- Kagey, Peter (Ph.D. 2022 advised by Assaf), Permutations, Statistics, and Switches
2021
- Quijada, Danjoseph (Ph.D. 2021 advised by Assaf), A Pieri rule for key polynomials
- Rahmani, John (Ph.D. 2021 advised by Fulman), Mixing Times for the Commuting Chain
2020
- McKemmie, Eilidh (Ph.D. 2020 advised by Guralnick), Invariable generation of finite groups of Lie type
- Ozdemir, Alperen (Ph.D. 2020 advised by Fulman), On limiting distribution and convergence rates of random processes defined over discrete structures