Dear USC Libraries Community,
Thank you for your nominations and feedback as we prepare our search for the next leader of the USC Libraries. Thanks to your contributions, we have begun to assemble the USC Libraries Search Advisory Committee. This committee will be co-chaired by Amber Miller, Dean of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and Ishwar Puri, USC’s Vice President of Research. Please join me in thanking them for their service.
As the search begins, we are appointing Andrew Guzman, Dean of the USC Gould School of Law, as interim dean. With seven years of experience as dean, including oversight of the USC Law Library, Dean Guzman has the knowledge and the ability to guide USC Libraries skillfully and compassionately as the search unfolds. We know he will work collaboratively with you during this period, and we are grateful for his service to our university.
The committee we are assembling will help us recruit the best candidate for the future of the USC Libraries, one who will lead us into the future of libraries work, from archives and special collections to digital integration and community partnerships, and more. The forthcoming position description will provide a profile of the ideal candidate.
As the process moves forward, we will follow procedures that have been observed in previous searches. The committee will review nominations, conduct interviews, and advise me on finalists. Those who are asked to interview the final candidates will be invited to send their comments regarding the strengths and possible weaknesses of these candidates to me directly and confidentially.
Selection of candidates and narrowing of the pool will be done by the search committee.
To assist us in this important search, we have engaged the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller and their consultants David Bellshaw and Hayden Lizotte. IM has helped us repeatedly in the past, most recently in the search for the dean for the USC Kaufman School of Dance.
In our follow-up, we will share the search advisory committee roster, and we will provide additional information about how you can submit your nominations and input. You will soon be able to track updates at our search website available at the following link.
Thank you again for your contributions to this process so far. I look forward to collaborating with you as we pursue and recruit the next leader for USC Libraries, whose work touches every member of our university community. This is a critical search for our campuses, and we will locate and hire the best candidate. We will keep you informed of our progress.
Sincerely,
Charles F. Zukoski
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs