USC President C. L. Max Nikias was honored at Monday’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association Annual Conference and ECExpo, receiving the organization’s 2016 Diversity Award at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines.
The award is given to an organization or individual whose proactive efforts increase cultural, ethnic and gender diversity within the Electrical and Computer Engineering student body and among ECE faculty. Nikias’ recognition was based on his efforts to boost diversity across USC’s student population.
“We are pleased to recognize President Nikias’ leadership in recruiting a talented and diverse student and faculty body,” said Zhihua Qu, the association’s awards committee chair and chair of the ECE Department at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. “USC’s accomplishments establish a blueprint for creating greater diversity within electrical and computer engineering — and well beyond.”
Boosting aid, increasing diversity
As a result of focused efforts to boost financial aid and increase diversity campuswide, USC now ranks third among private American universities in total Pell Grant recipients. The university also ranks second among all private research universities in Latino students and third in African-American students.
“This recognition speaks to the important work our university has undertaken in increasing access for women, for underrepresented minorities and for those who come from challenging socioeconomic circumstances,” Nikias said, accepting the award in a ballroom filled with the nation’s foremost academic leaders in electrical and computer engineering.
“Ultimately, the American research university, in order to succeed in its mission, needs to bring together the greatest minds, regardless of background. This is true for every academic discipline, and this is why diversity will always remain at the heart of what we stand for as an institution.”
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