Speeches & Articles

February 2018C. L. Max NikiasPresident Today, more than ever, higher education is the key to instilling the values that create an open and free society.  This is a role of lasting merit, part of the enduring concept of education as enlightenment, of education that advances civilizations. There is no question that a university education can…Continue Reading State of the University Address

Delivered on October 13, 2017 Good morning!  And welcome to Trojan Family Weekend. I am so delighted all of you are here.  It’s a great privilege to be able to share some time with you. More than 3,600 parents and family members are visiting from 47 states and 21 countries.  Your presence here means so…Continue Reading Trojan Family Weekend

Delivered on June 8, 2017 It’s a privilege for USC to host this important discussion about the business of biotech. I want to recognize USC Civic Engagement for organizing today’s event – Sayles, Paysinger, Escutia. And I want to welcome our colleagues from other colleges and universities, leaders in public service and private business, as…Continue Reading The Business of Biotech

February 2017C. L. Max NikiasPresident Serving as a member of the USC faculty for the past 25 years has been one of the greatest joys of my life. I have always admired our faculty’s competitiveness and ambition; creativity and foresight; collaborative spirit; and commitment to the most sacred values of the academy, which are ancient…Continue Reading State of the University Address

Delivered on August 18, 2016 This ceremony is a rite of passage, an enduring tradition that links the students of today with scholars across time and across continents. Today, we induct you into the academy, and we embrace you as scholars….Continue Reading New Student Convocation

State of the University AddressFebruary 2016C. L. Max NikiasPresident It’s always a great privilege to deliver this annual address. As you know, our faculty is the solid foundation on which all of our successes rest, and I am very proud to report on the incredible progress that has been made. At USC we value all…Continue Reading State of the University Address

BY C. L. MAX NIKIAS, TONY F. CHAN & ANDREA SIRONI Originally published in the Huffington Post on September 17, 2015 Recent history is littered with examples of multinational corporations meeting spectacular failure on the international stage. Too often, cultural misunderstandings of other nations’ customer bases or corporate environments cripple a company’s efforts to enter…Continue Reading Building a New Global Higher Education Model

Delivered on August 20, 2015 Today, we induct you into the academy, and we embrace you as scholars. We have gathered here in this place at a very pivotal moment in your lives, and a very pivotal moment in this university’s history. USC today is one of the academically elite universities, drawing the attention and envy of institutions from every corner of the world….Continue Reading New Student Convocation

BY C. L. MAX NIKIAS Originally published in the Sacramento Bee Op-Ed section on April 8, 2015 Over the past month, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have received college acceptance letters. My institution, the University of Southern California, has 2,700 freshman slots and received nearly 52,000 applications – the third most of…Continue Reading Students at private schools need help, too

By C. L. Max Nikias Originally published in The Los Angeles Times Op-Ed section on February 25, 2015 As the Great Recession decimated U.S. job growth, one sector continued to thrive: biotechnology. Encompassing everything from medical device manufacturing to biopharmaceutical development and the latest diagnostic tools, this industry will no doubt frame humanity’s most important…Continue Reading Los Angeles has the right DNA to become biotech hub

Delivered on February 26, 2015 at the Los Angeles Biotech Summit Good morning everyone! On behalf of the entire USC community, I am so pleased to welcome you to the Los Angeles Biotech Summit. Today, through several panels of prestigious researchers and leaders from academia and industry and our community, we will explore the extraordinary possibilities…Continue Reading Los Angeles Biotech Summit

The Value of College EducationFebruary 2015by C. L. Max Nikias It is an extraordinary privilege for me to offer my annual address as president of USC. Faculty and students determine the quality of an institution. And USC stands among the most academically elite universities of the nation and the Pacific Rim. Your accomplishments define us,…Continue Reading Annual Address to Faculty

Originally published on Jan. 24, 2015 on Agenda, an online publication of the World Economic Forum. One of the most hotly discussed topics in higher education is the role and future of online education. For the traditional university, does the emergence of online education represent a threat or an opportunity? Like any new technology, the…Continue Reading What will the future of education look like?

The Washington Post, Opinion, originally published on October 23, 2014. “The reality is that some students with the right combination of talent, creativity and personality will not begin their academic careers at a selective private university. Many won’t apply, while others simply require more time for polish or introspection. The most academically driven will hone their skills and prove themselves in a two-year program, emerging more motivated, more mature and hungrier than ever.”…Continue Reading Why elite universities should admit more community college grads

Delivered on October 9, 2014 to the USC Health Sciences Faculty My fellow colleagues, we irreversibly committed the entire, worldwide Trojan Family, in perpetuity, to taking a leadership role in the human health revolution. Of course, in times of change, being reasonable and conventional isn’t how you become a leader. And so all of you responded with characteristic boldness and determination….Continue Reading The Human Health Renaissance: USC’s Duties, Dreams, and Destiny

Delivered on September 2, 2014 to new student-athletes Today I also want to affirm USC’s commitment to sportsmanship, embodied in the NCAA’s rules and regulations. They represent the guidelines to which we and our competitors have agreed to abide. They represent the foundation of sportsmanship and the foundation of our own efforts to reach greatness. You are Trojan student-athletes, who have been marked out for greatness. We will be here for you, to help you reach greatness….Continue Reading NCAA Compliance Meeting for Incoming Student-Athletes

Delivered on August 29, 2014 at the unveiling of the Judge Robert Widney statue on the USC campus One simply cannot overestimate Judge Widney’s role in USC’s birth and early growth. He personally drafted the university’s articles of incorporation, which our statue now holds, and you’ll soon see. He asked and convinced three real estate partners – Childs, Downey, and Hellman – to donate the land. He was the first chairman of USC’s board of trustees. His brother, Joseph Widney, founded USC’s medical school in 1882 and later became the second president of the university. Judge Widney donated $100,000 for the university’s first endowment fund—an extraordinary amount in that age—and he would later supervise the management of this fund. He was a dreamer, a visionary, a builder. Through force of will, he reimagined a region and the destinies of countless others who would follow here….Continue Reading Judge Robert Maclay Widney Statue Unveiling

Delivered on May 1, 2014 Our university provides an educational experience that is unlike that found at any other university in the nation. This is a place that welcomes students interested in science and technology as well as those who are passionate about the arts, the social sciences and humanities. In fact, USC’s student body has become a microcosm of the entire world. This rich tapestry of geographic and global diversity is evident in the fact that we currently enroll students from all 50 states and more than 115 nations….Continue Reading President and Mrs. Nikias Host the Trojan Family

Delivered on February 10 & 11, 2014, on the University Park and Health Sciences campuses Let us turn our attention to the online education revolution that is getting underway. As with any other technological revolution of the past, we may see old industries disappear, while new ones rise up. Our children are inheriting a world that functions like nothing humanity has ever witnessed before. In education, new technologies now let us reach out to faraway students where they can be immersed and fully participate in a virtual classroom experience. This, in theory, should change everything. I’m proud of the fact that USC has not been copying anyone else or chasing anyone else in this area. USC has been experimenting and exploring, and has been leading the way for others….Continue Reading Annual Address to the USC Faculty

If you are just beginning your USC career, you should know that we at USC take the legends of the Trojans seriously. Growing up reading the Greco-Roman classics, I was inspired by the image of the Trojans as warriors who never gave up. Persistence and courage were engraved in their ethos. When they were knocked to the ground, they always rose back up. They persevered. And they conquered, even when the odds were against them, even when they were outnumbered. Yes, even when the gods of Mount Olympus seemed to have forgotten them, they knew how to bend destiny back in their favor and to triumph. Destiny always favors the bold. Destiny always bends in the direction of those who take risks….Continue Reading Phi Kappa Psi Scholarship Awards Dinner

Delivered on October 25, 2013, to parents and family of USC students Having served as a professor, dean, provost, and now as president of USC, I have been guided first and foremost by my perspective as a parent. In the past, it was quite helpful to see and experience USC through the eyes and hearts of my daughters and their friends. From time to time, I would have lunch with them on campus in pursuit of what was on the minds of students here. Today, I still have an opportunity to share a meal with your children. Every year since I became president, my wife Niki and I host Thanksgiving for over 300 students at our house. I only wish the President’s House could host 3,000 students for a traditional turkey dinner! These are both domestic and international students who don’t go home for Thanksgiving. Niki and I, along with our daughters, spend the evening with them, and we love it….Continue Reading 2013 Trojan Family Weekend Address

Delivered to the World Affairs Council, Los Angeles, October 15, 2013. Quietly and without fanfare, USC’s faculty have developed an online model that expands educational access to more than 40 nations around the world already— while maintaining the all-important standards of academic rigor, integrity, and quality. USC’s online education model focuses entirely on professional master’s degree programs, along with executive and continuing education. Our goal is to provide an online education that is just as powerful as the classroom one….Continue Reading “Online Education Revolution—Hype and Reality”

Delivered at the USC Shoah Foundation Ambassadors for Humanity Gala, October 3, 2013 When we stand together, we ensure that no one confronting the indignity of intolerance in our age stands alone. In doing so, we forever preserve the kingdom of memory against those who would assault decency and civility….Continue Reading Remarks at USC Shoah Foundation Ambassadors for Humanity Gala

Before Pearl Harbor, USC’s total student enrollment stood at 6,000. But following the war, this number skyrocketed, and in 1947 our total enrollment reached 24,000—the overwhelming majority of which were former servicemen. To meet their needs, our faculty worked a double shift, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and classes were even held on Saturdays. In 1945 alone, 111 new faculty were hired! We brought in old army barracks from a nearby training camp, and these served as classrooms and laboratory space. (In fact, the last two remaining barracks on our campus remained until only 11 years ago, when during my tenure as dean, we had to clear the site for a new building.). These veterans ultimately became distinguished alumni and major donors to USC, and helped build our university into the great, world-class institution it is today. …Continue Reading Remarks at Veterans Appreciation Dinner

This is an era in which the crucial issues of how we live, and how well we live, and how long we live will be illuminated by creative and collaborative adventurers across the sciences and engineering, the humanities, the arts and social sciences, and the professions. As a private, comprehensive research powerhouse, here at the greatest cultural and commercial crossroads of the Pacific Rim, USC finds circumstances working in its favor. Located in this place, at this time, with our unique assets, we find that Destiny has dealt us a favorable hand. Let us play this out wisely!…Continue Reading Annual Address to the USC Faculty

The Trojan Family kept working, for 132 years, to build a great research university: Brick by brick, building by building, achievement by achievement, gift by gift, generation after generation after generation. The Trojan Family did it, though. We all did it together, because we share our founder’s passion and love for this university. The word ambition comes from ambire, an old Latin word which signified the manner in which aspiring leaders of the Roman Republic would campaign for office, by going around town to recruit support for their dreams. For each of us, let us make it our ambition to do more together for USC than we thought possible….Continue Reading Widney Society Gala Address

USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy September 24, 2012 By C. L. Max Nikias It is a great privilege to welcome you all here to the inaugural symposium of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. We would not be here today without the generous support and unbounded vision of one…Continue Reading Remarks at Inaugural Symposium

September 12, 2012By C. L. Max Nikias Tonight I feel privileged to speak to this impressive assembly of USC councilors and advisors as we celebrate our recent successes and shine a spotlight on the signs of our steady progress. As we do, I want to express my deepest gratitude to all of you. I want…Continue Reading Remarks at University-Wide Board of Councilors Reception

September 5, 2012By C. L. Max Nikias Today, we have been given the opportunity to create an extraordinary place: a special place that will carry a special name. Today we break ground on one of the world’s most forward-looking academic facilities, which will carry the name of a man and a woman who represent USC’s…Continue Reading Verna and Peter Dauterive Hall Groundbreaking Ceremony

May 11, 2012By C. L. Max Nikias Good morning, and welcome to the 129th Annual Commencement of the University of Southern California! Today, we confer nearly 14,000 degrees—at the undergraduate level, at the graduate and doctoral level, and at the professional level. Today, we confer degrees on graduates from 50 states and from more than…Continue Reading Remarks at USC’s 129th Annual Commencement

2012 Holberg International Memorial Prize Recipient Founders ParkMay 3, 2012By C. L. Max Nikias I am delighted to welcome you all here to this reception recognizing University Professor Manuel Castells, who brought great honor to USC when he was named the recipient of Norway’s 2012 Holberg International Memorial Prize. In receiving the Holberg International Memorial…Continue Reading Reception for University Professor Manuel Castells

Memorial Service for Ying Wu and Ming Qu Shrine AuditoriumApril 18, 2012By C. L. Max Nikias We have gathered this evening to honor the lives and the memories of Ying Wu and Ming Qu. And yet, how can we accord them the respect and reflection they deserve when we are beset with unresolved grief? When…Continue Reading Eulogy for Ying Wu and Ming Qu

Intersorority and Interfraternity Parents Council Meeting March 22, 2012By C.L. Max Nikias I am delighted to be here with the parents of the mighty Greeks of the Trojan Family! I must confess, there are several reasons I feel a special affinity for USC’s Greek community. Although I was not in a fraternity when I was…Continue Reading Remarks to the USC Intersorority and Interfraternity Parents Council

Brookings Institution Global Cities Initiative March 21, 2012By C. L. Max Nikias It is a pleasure for me to welcome so many of Southern California’s civic leaders to the heart of Los Angeles today. I’d like to thank the Brookings Institution for organizing this important Global Cities Initiative series. I’d also like to thank J.P….Continue Reading “All Roads Lead to Southern California”

Memorial Ceremony Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, IsraelFebruary 24, 2012By C. L. Max Nikias The eternal flame that will soon be rekindled is the flame of memory. It is the memory of those whose lives were cast and extinguished in the crucible of inhumanity. We recall their joy and laughter, and their dreams and aspirations – all…Continue Reading “The Flame of Memory”

State-of-the-University AddressUSC Global Conference, Hong KongOctober 14, 2011By C. L. Max Nikias Good morning, and welcome! It is a pleasure to see old friends in Hong Kong, and also to make new ones. I would like to begin by offering my deepest thanks to the co-chairs of this year’s global conference, USC trustee Ronnie Chan…Continue Reading “A Global Community with a Global Mission”

October 7, 2011By C. L. Max Nikias Good morning. I want to warmly welcome you all here to honor our dear friend and president emeritus, Dr. John R. Hubbard. As we gather here in Bovard, I know there is a tremendous sense of admiration and respect, mixed with gratitude and love. I certainly come with…Continue Reading Memorial for John R. Hubbard

September 28, 2011By C. L. Max Nikias It is with great excitement that I welcome you to the USC Good Neighbors Campaign Kickoff! The programs funded by this campaign stand as an enduring testimony to the power of real partnerships. The true test of a university’s impact is whether it can make a big difference…Continue Reading 2011 USC Good Neighbors Campaign Kickoff

September 16, 2011 By C. L. Max Nikias It has been a privilege for Niki and me to enjoy this historic academic celebration, surrounded by our faculty, staff, students, friends and the Trojan Family. This is indeed “family time,” a moment to consider what this university community has been and to imagine what it can…Continue Reading Campaign Announcement Celebration

September 11, 2011By C. L. Max Nikias I want to thank all of you for coming to Bovard Auditorium to join us on this very important day of remembrance. Like all of you, on this day a decade ago, I woke up to a changed world. On that morning, I received a phone call from…Continue Reading 9/11 Remembrance

September 9, 2011By C. L. Max Nikias It’s my great pleasure to be here this evening, and I want you to know what an honor it is to receive this award. I’m truly humbled. I especially want to thank the members and supporters of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership. You do an outstanding job…Continue Reading San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership Awards Ceremony

September 8, 2011By C. L. Max Nikias Good morning! I’m delighted to be here, to personally welcome you all to the Trojan Family and to discuss USC’s commitment to sportsmanship, embodied in the NCAA’s rules and regulations. I believe the rules and regulations serve together as our friend, as our ally. They represent the guidelines…Continue Reading Remarks at NCAA Athletic Compliance Meeting for Student-Athletes

I would like to thank all of you – our freshmen, our transfer students, and our parents – for coming to USC on this very special occasion. …Continue Reading New Student Convocation Remarks

May 16, 2011By C. L. Max Nikias To receive this honor from this institution is one of the most personally rewarding moments in my career. I am grateful to Rabbi Ellenson, Dean Holo and Stanley Gold, as well as the entire faculty of HUC. On behalf of USC, I thank you as a partner, and…Continue Reading Hebrew Union College Commencement Remarks

March 4, 2011By C. L. Max Nikias Good evening! Niki and I are thrilled to be here. We love being with so many Trojans and friends of USC. How many of you have watched a sunset along the California coast? As it fires the waters and the skies in the twilight hour, it bleeds cardinal…Continue Reading 37th Annual Latino Alumni Association Scholarship Gala

February 8 & 9, 2011By C. L. Max Nikias It is an extraordinary privilege for me to offer my first annual address as USC president to you, the faculty of our great university. You have been my colleagues and my friends and my mentors for 20 years. For 20 years, I have cherished this intellectual…Continue Reading Annual Address to the USC Faculty

Inaugural Address October 15, 2010By C. L. Max Nikias There is no adequate way to convey the sense that fills me, standing before you, the women and men of the university that I love, and knowing the profound responsibility with which I have been entrusted. I shall forever be grateful to all of today’s representatives…Continue Reading “The Destined Reign of Troy”

October 1, 2010By C. L. Max Nikias Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Trojan Parents Weekend! It’s a special privilege for me to be a part of this weekend, both as the USC president and as a USC parent. My beloved wife, Niki, has shared with me the joy of being a Trojan parent. I want…Continue Reading Trojan Parents Weekend Address

NCAA Athletic Compliance Meeting for Incoming Student-Athletes September 8, 2010By C. L. Max Nikias Good morning. I’m delighted to be here to discuss USC’s university-wide commitment to sportsmanship, embodied in the NCAA’s rules and regulations. I believe the rules and regulations serve together as our friend, as our ally. They represent the rules that we…Continue Reading “No Easy Path to Greatness”

President’s Special Address to the Health Sciences August 25, 2010By C. L. Max Nikias Good morning. This represents my first major address regarding the academic future of the University of Southern California. You may wonder why I chose this campus as the setting for it. And why I invited you to be here so early…Continue Reading “Opportunity at the Intersection of the Pacific Century and the Biological Century”

Address to Doctoral Students and Postdocs August 24, 2010By C. L. Max Nikias This is a historic gathering. And I’ll tell you why. This is the first university-wide reception USC has ever held for our doctoral students and our postdoctoral scholars and researchers. In the past, Ph.D. students and postdocs have been greeted by their…Continue Reading “USC: A Place of Innovation”

USC New Student Convocation August 19, 2010By C. L. Max Nikias Welcome. I want to thank the members of USC’s freshman class, our transfer students, and our parents for being part of this very special occasion. This ceremony is a rite of passage. Today we induct you into this academy, and we embrace you as…Continue Reading “The Six Literacies: What Every Student Should Know”

NCAA Athletic Compliance Meeting for Coaches and Staff August 18, 2010 C. L. Max Nikias I’d like to begin by thanking Pat Haden. Pat and I worked closely together as a trustee and a provost, and I’m delighted that Pat accepted my challenge to come back to Heritage Hall—with a little encouragement from his wife,…Continue Reading NCAA Compliance Speech to Athletic Coaches

August 3, 2010By C. L. Max Nikias I’d like to welcome all of you back. I know you’ve been waiting for a chance to get back on the field and remind everybody that when the mighty Trojans are at their best, they cannot be defeated. We, all of the Trojan Family, are impatient too. We…Continue Reading Remarks to the 2010 USC Football Team

San Diego Union-TribuneMarch 12, 2009By C. L. Max NikiasJazz, that distinctly American art form, has been called “the sound of surprise”—and America’s successes in competitiveness over the past century have similarly resulted from the distinctly American appetite for surprise and for bold experimentation. That should inform our feverish efforts to inject life into our economy….Continue Reading “Elements of America’s Renaissance”

C. L. Max NikiasExecutive Vice President and ProvostMalcolm R. Currie Chair in Technology and the HumanitiesUniversity of Southern California Thirty-First Annual Earl V. Pullias Lecture It is my privilege to offer today some perspective on the potential direction of the American research university in the coming years. Some of my recommendations and predictions for the…Continue Reading “Beyond the Ivory Towers: On Tomorrow’s American Research University”

Chronicle of Higher EducationNovember 7, 2008By C. L. Max Nikias Prestigious American universities are franchising their brands in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, building campuses and making it possible for students in those regions to receive an American degree while remaining at home. In doing so, however, they undercut an important component of American…Continue Reading “Attracting Foreign Students to America Offers More Advantages”

Daily News of Los AngelesThursday, June 19, 2008By C. L. Max Nikias Dear Young Person Planning to Skip College: As 3 million young Americans have graduated from high school in recent days, my thoughts turn to you, part of the 1 million graduates whose plans do not include college. A cynical radio personality mused recently…Continue Reading “Can You Afford Not to Attend College?”

On American Innovation FORBES.comTuesday, March 25, 2008By Jim Clifton and C. L. Max Nikias Even the most decent, charismatic or bold politicians tend to adhere to conventional wisdom and conventional prescriptions in addressing America’s economic future. In doing so, they miss the point that it is the unconventional that has driven America’s recent success, and…Continue Reading “America the Unconventional”

Ancient Greeks Did It – Empathizing with an Enemy Japan TimesFriday, January 26, 2007By C. L. Max NikiasLOS ANGELES—In a resonant scene from film director Clint Eastwood’s “Letters From Iwo Jima,” soldiers find a letter on the person of a just-deceased enemy. Upon learning that the letter is from his mother, sharing her hopes and…Continue Reading “The Arts and the Grand Democratic Discussion”

A Southern Cal Program Courts Minority Professors http://chronicle.comSeptember 29, 2006 By Alvin P. Sanoff When C. L. Max Nikias became the provost of the University of Southern California last year, the WISE program was very much on his mind. Mr. Nikias had moved into the provost’s job from the deanship of USC’s Viterbi School of…Continue Reading Faculty Diversity

San Francisco ChronicleSunday, June 25, 2006By C. L. Max Nikias America’s future lies in its imagination. At a moment in which China and India together produce many times the number of engineers and scientists that we do, politicians and journalists have asked with urgency how the United States can catch up with China and India….Continue Reading Revaluing the Arts and Humanities