Nikias is Southern California’s first awardee.
The Carnegie Corporation of New York honored USC President C. L. Max Nikias today with its Academic Leadership Award. Nikias is the organization’s first awardee in Southern California.
The foundation established in 1911 by industrialist Andrew Carnegie bestows the accolade every other year, which comes with a $500,000 grant to further academic initiatives. The award is granted to a select number of university presidents “demonstrating vision and outstanding commitment to excellence and equity fulfilling their administrative and managerial roles with dedication and creativity.”
“The contributions of C. L. Max Nikias, both as provost and president, of the University of Southern California have been phenomenal,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation. “Under his leadership, the quality of the student body and of the faculty continues to reach new heights. Today, USC ranks among the nation’s and indeed the world’s most outstanding private research universities. This award recognizes not only the excellence President Nikias has affected, but also his vision of boosting global engagement and scaling up various community initiatives. What has impressed me as a former provost and president is that he has been able, in a relatively brief period, to establish 77 endowed faculty chairs. We are very proud of USC’s progress under and look to its continued success in the future.”
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