USC Dornsife News Briefs highlight faculty research studies, newly published books, awards, grants and other news showcasing faculty members’ work at USC Dornsife. All USC Dornsife faculty are eligible to submit content.
(The diverse opinions expressed in News Briefs do not necessarily represent the views of USC Dornsife administration or USC.)
Daniel Lidar, professor of electrical and computer engineering, chemistry, and physics and astronomy, has been elected a Member of the National Academy of Artificial Intelligence. The academy recognized Lidar, who holds the Viterbi Professorship in Engineering, for his “outstanding academic contributions and pioneering research achievements in the field of artificial intelligence.” Lidar, who was elected a Fellow of the International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance and a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association last year, was also listed as a lifetime highly ranked scholar – No. 2 in quantum computing worldwide – by ScholarGPS
Richard Brutchey, professor of chemistry, has been named a 2025 recipient of the Science Teaching and Research (STAR) Award by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA). The award recognizes Brutchey for his pioneering work in materials synthesis and for creating hands-on STEM research opportunities for community college students. The RCSA cited Brutchey’s summer internship program with Cerritos Community College, which launched through his original Cottrell Scholar Award from the RCSA to provide mentorship and classroom-to-lab training for first-generation students. The RCSA champions research in the physical sciences at U.S. and Canadian institutions while cultivating communities of early career researchers.
Environment and Sustainability and the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future (CPF), both based at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, hosted the sixth annual Climate Forward conference on April 3.
Luke Fidler, assistant professor of art history, has been named a 2025–2026 Fellow of the Society for the Humanities at Cornell University. Centered on the theme of “Scale,” the residential fellowship brings together scholars and artists for a year of collaborative research, writing and teaching. Each fellow receives $62,000 and teaches one seminar for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Fidler specializes in the art of early- and high-medieval Europe, with an emphasis on the German-speaking lands, Scandinavia and the British Isles.
Arieh Warshel, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, and Quantitative and Computational Biology, has been elected a Member of the National Academy of Artificial Intelligence. Warshel, who holds the Dana and David Dornsife Chair in Chemistry, was also elected an honorary member of the Serbian National Academy of Sciences.
USC students put their bioscience research in the spotlight at the inaugural, USC Dornsife-hosted BioFestival, competing for a share of $30,000 in grants and cash prizes.
Remo Rohs, founding chair of the Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology and professor of quantitative and computational biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy, computer science and medicine, has been named a 2025 Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology.
A new discovery about how tiny protein clusters form in cells could pave the way for treatments for Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD), a rare genetic disorder that causes muscle weakness and heart problems.
