Interim Dean, USC Dornsife

Dean’s Professor of Physics and Astronomy

(213) 740-2531
dean@dornsife.usc.edu

Mohamed Y. El-Naggar is Interim Dean of USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, where he holds an appointment as Dean’s Professor of Physics and Astronomy and serves in a number of leadership and advisory roles at the university. He previously held the prestigious Robert D. Beyer Early Career Chair in Natural Sciences (2015-2021).

El-Naggar served from 2021 to 2024 as Divisional Dean for the Physical Sciences and Mathematics at USC Dornsife, overseeing strategic planning, faculty appointments and recruiting, and the advancement of research across the physical sciences and mathematics. He has also been pivotal in developing the university’s quantum information science strategy, a key part of USC’s ambitious Frontiers of Computing initiative.

A distinguished scholar, El-Naggar’s research explores biological electron transfer and energy conversion, focusing on the interaction between living and nonliving systems. He led a Department of Defense-funded multi-university research initiative on living electronics. His groundbreaking work has resulted in dozens of peer-reviewed publications and recognition in several prominent media outlets, including PBS NewsHour and NPR Science Friday.

Among his many accolades, El-Naggar was recently elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He also received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers — the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers — and was named one of Popular Science’s “Brilliant 10” in 2012.

El-Naggar received his B.S. from Lehigh University and both his M.S. and Ph.D. from Caltech. He has been with USC Dornsife since 2006.