The USC Board of Trustees has appointed Beong-Soo Kim, the university’s senior vice president and general counsel, to serve as the campus’ interim president following the departure of Carol Folt, it was announced today.
“During his time at USC, Beong has consistently shown his commitment to members of the Trojan Family,” USC Board of Trustees Chair Suzanne Nora Johnson and Vice Chair David C. Bohnett wrote in a message to the university community. “He has built strong relationships with deans, faculty and staff across USC and Keck Medicine, earning respect from everyone. He will work closely with our superb roster of academic leaders, including our provost, senior vice president for health affairs and academic deans, who will continue to sustain and elevate our academic, research and clinical excellence.”
Folt, who has led the university for about five years, announced in November that she will retire from the position at the end of the academic year on June 30.
Despite being named interim president, Kim will not be a candidate to become the university’s next full-time president, according to the university.
USC on Wednesday also announced the creation of a Presidential Search Committee, which will be co-chaired by Board of Trustees members and alumni Carmen Nava and Mark Stevens.
“In addition to their deep roots and commitment to USC, Carmen and Mark are established leaders in business and in the community, and their wisdom and judgment — along with their strong belief in the benefits of collaboration — will be tremendous resources throughout the search and recruitment process,” Nora Johnson and Bohnett wrote in their campus message.
The search committee will also include a “wide range of faculty, staff, student and alumni perspectives from across the Trojan Family.”
“As part of its advisory role, the committee will consolidate feedback from our community to define the characteristics we are seeking in our next president, and ultimately recommend a small number of highly qualified candidates to the Board of Trustees for interview and selection. They will work closely with Russell Reynolds Associates, one of the nation’s top leadership advisory and executive search firms, which has been retained to assist the committee in its search and recruitment efforts.”
The university created a website to provide updates on the search process at https://presidentialsearch.usc.edu.