Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch ’93 to deliver USC Dornsife commencement address
Roger Lynch landed his first job at age 10, tossing newspapers onto porches in his St. Petersburg, Fla., neighborhood. Today, the USC Dornsife physics alumnus is CEO of global publishing powerhouse Condé Nast, home to iconic brands including The New Yorker, GQ, Vogue and Vanity Fair. He also moonlights as lead guitarist for The Merger, an all-CEO band.
Lynch will return to his alma mater on May 16 to deliver the commencement address to the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’ Class of 2025. At the academic school ceremony, which will be held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Lynch will also be honored with the USC Dornsife Distinguished Alumnus Award.
“Returning to Dornsife to speak to this year’s graduates feels incredibly meaningful to me,” says Lynch, who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from USC Dornsife in 1993. “The breadth and depth of my Dornsife education gave me the foundation to pursue opportunities I never could have imagined. I’m incredibly proud to be part of this community — and excited to celebrate the graduates as they begin this next phase of their lives.”
Lynch began his career in aerospace and defense before earning an MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. He later joined Morgan Stanley as a technology investment banker before heading to Amsterdam in 1999 to lead Chello Broadband as president and CEO.
He went on to lead several international media companies, including London-based Video Networks International Ltd., where he won an Emmy Award for Scamp, an on-demand children’s channel, and a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Award for V:MX, a suite of music video channels.
In 2009, Lynch joined DISH Network, where he launched the streaming service Sling TV as its founding CEO. The project earned him another Emmy, this one for “Pioneering Development of Large Scale, Cloud Served, Broadcast Quality, Linear Channel Transmission.”
Later, he served as CEO of music streaming service Pandora before being named chief executive of Condé Nast in 2019. He also serves on the company’s board of directors, as well as the boards of multinational toy and entertainment company Mattel, the nonprofit Partnership for New York City, the News Media Alliance and the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.
Lynch continues to support USC Dornsife as a member of its Board of Councilors, serving as an ambassador for the College and providing counsel to senior leaders. In 2023, he was honored with a USC Alumni Merit Award.
More information about the USC Dornsife commencement ceremony can be found at dornsife.usc.edu/commencement/.