On May 3, 2012, USC hosted a reception honoring University Professor Manuel Castells, the most cited communication scholar in the world. A professor of communication and sociology and holder of the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Castells was awarded Norway’s 2012 Holberg International Memorial Prize, cited by the Holberg Prize Academic Committee as “the leading sociologist of the city and new information and media technologies.”
At the reception, held in Founders Park, USC president C. L. Max Nikias presented Castells with a special commendation from the university.