Message to the USC Community
From: Charles F. Zukoski, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Today we share the news that Dr. Jack H. Knott, who for the past 15 years has served as dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, will be stepping down from his position. Dean Knott will be moving on to New York University to become dean of the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, effective August 1, 2020.
On behalf of the USC community, we want to express our appreciation for his remarkable achievements as dean. Over the past 15 years, Dean Knott has provided inspirational and innovative leadership to grow the Price School into one of the top public policy schools in the country. The school consistently generates vital influence on policy and society through the research and expertise of its nationally-renowned faculty and high-achieving, impact-focused students.
The Price School has accumulated numerous achievements in academics and research under Dean Knott. He led the development of advanced new PhD, masters, and bachelors programs, and expanded quality offerings online and at the executive level. His emphasis on transdisciplinary work led to academic collaborations with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the USC School of Pharmacy, and other schools across USC. He expanded Price’s impact internationally through research collaborations, dual masters’ degree programs with foreign universities, and study abroad programs. He established five new centers and institutes. The school has doubled its research expenditures over the past five years, a strong indicator of impact.
Dean Knott’s resolute commitment to advancing equity and inclusion helped nurture the Price School community into the field-leading, inclusive group it is today. Under his tenure, the school was a recipient of the prestigious National Diversity Award from The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA).
Dean Knott was responsible for expanding the school’s endowment and stewarding the school’s naming gift. Ever in touch with impact, connection, and community, he established new programs to strengthen ties and improve communications with Price School alumni, donors, and parents.
We are grateful that Dean Knott’s leadership has positioned the Price School to continue to thrive long into the future. President Folt joins me in thanking Dean Knott for his years of service to our community and his spouse, Cherrie Short, for her work in the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. We wish them both the best in their move.
We will soon be naming an interim dean and forming an advisory committee to conduct a search for the Price School’s next dean. We will update you when these developments occur.
cc:
Office of the President
President’s Senior Leadership Team
Academic Deans
Provost’s Leadership Team
Academic Senate
Staff Assembly
GSG President
USG President