University of Southern California Announces School of Advanced Computing

• USC announced the creation of a new school focused on advanced computing.
• Gaurav Sukhatme, executive vice dean of the School of Engineering, will lead the School of Advanced Computing.
• The school will be a "hub" of advanced computing on campus and help solve "society’s most pressing issues."

The University of Southern California (USC) has unveiled its plans for a School of Advanced Computing, part of its $1 billion initiative to expand advanced computing.

The USC School of Advanced Computing will be open to all students regardless of major, teaching ethical uses of technology and working on "society’s most pressing issues."

The new school will be led by Gaurav Sukhatme — professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering and executive vice dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering.

"The School of Advanced Computing signals USC's mission to provide a digital backbone for education across the university and to pursue advanced research in all aspects of computing," Sukhatme said in a press release.

"From the design of new paradigms for artificial intelligence and machine learning to explorations in science, medicine, business, policy, law, the humanities, and the arts — it is a tremendous honor and privilege to lead this initiative."

Operating within the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the School of Advanced Computing will operate as a "school-within-a-school," and contain the university's Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering and its Division of Computing Education.

The school is a fundamental piece of USC President Carol Folt's Frontiers of Computing initiative, a 10-year, billion-dollar campaign launched last spring.

The initiative was made possible by a $260 million gift from the Lord Foundation of California, a nonprofit foundation that supports USC.

The school will be housed in the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall, a 116,000-square-foot facility scheduled to open this summer.

Students will be able to engage in a variety of academic programs focused on advanced computing across multiple disciplines, from healthcare to finance, according to the university.

"Software pioneer Marc Andreessen famously said a decade ago that software is eating the world. I would say that, in fact, computing is eating the world," Sukhatme said.