Meyerowitz Joins the Office of the Provost

USC Dornsife professor Beth Meyerowitz is joining the Office of the Provost as vice provost for faculty and programmatic development, reporting to Elizabeth Garrett, USC provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, who announced the post on June 20.

The position was created to ensure that the university provides the structure and support for faculty to excel in research and scholarship, creative work and effective teaching. The need for focused and sustained attention to faculty development at the central level has been identified and discussed in numerous venues, most recently at a faculty retreat last semester sponsored by Garrett’s office and the Academic Senate.

Professor Michael Preston, vice provost for strategic initiatives, will step down from that post to take a sabbatical. When he returns, he will serve as special adviser to the provost, focusing primarily on the university’s commitment to faculty diversity.

In her new role, Meyerowitz will oversee the university’s efforts to ensure that faculty receive the support and mentoring required to produce influential scholarly and creative work and to provide students challenging educational opportunities in and out of the classroom. She also will work with USC schools to ensure that distinguished faculty members who produce consequential work are recognized by their disciplines.

Meyerowitz will serve as the provost’s representative on the University Committee on Academic Review and work with deans, chairs and faculty to advance programs informed by the resulting recommendations. She will advise the provost on reviewing and developing policies and practices that enhance an academic environment committed to excellence. In addition, she will take a leading role in developing institutional data with regard to faculty matters.

Meyerowitz will work with professor Marty Levine, vice provost for faculty affairs, who will continue to advise the provost on promotion and tenure; oversee faculty salaries and contracts; serve as the primary liaison to the Academic Senate; ensure that USC’s commitment to diversity and equity is reflected in its practices and decisions; and consult with the provost on other related faculty matters.

Meyerowitz served as dean of faculty at USC Dornsife from 2000 to 2005. She also served as director of USC’s clinical psychology graduate program for six years.

She came to USC as an associate professor of psychology with a joint appointment in preventive medicine. She has received the Raubenheimer Outstanding Faculty Award, a faculty mentoring award and recognition as a Distinguished Fellow from the USC Center for Excellence in Teaching. She earned a Ph.D in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Meyerowitz is a frequently cited researcher who has focused much of her scholarly work on psychosocial issues facing individuals diagnosed with chronic illness.

For much of her tenure as a researcher, she has investigated the distress and disruption associated with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and the factors that aid individuals in coping and adjustment. She also has studied trauma and resilience among survivors of the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.