Yannis Yortsos — Viterbi School of Engineering, USC

Dean

THE LATEST: In January, the Baum Family Maker Space, an 8,000-square-foot facility dedicated to hands-on learning for undergraduate students, opened on the Viterbi campus at USC. In early May, the Viterbi School’s first documentary feature film, “Lives, Not Grades,” premiered on PBS. In spring 2020, Yortsos led the National Academy of Engineering’s Call for Engineering Action in response to the pandemic. And last summer, in response to the murder of George Floyd, Yortsos launched the school’s first initiative focused on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion. One of the first moves under this effort was Yortsos’ naming in August of Andrea Hodge as the school’s first Latina department chair; she will helm the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
BACKGROUND: Yortsos, who has spent most of his career at USC, became dean of the Viterbi School in 2005. He joined the school’s chemical engineering department in 1978, chaired that department in the 1990s, then rose through USC’s administrative ranks. Yortsos is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has served on the American Society for Engineering Education’s Diversity Committee of the Engineering Deans Council. He also recently served on the executive committees of both the (U.S.) Engineering Deans Council and the Global Engineering Deans Council.
YEARS ON THE LA500: 6
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