Law professor named vice provost

Elizabeth Garrett, the Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics, Political Science, and Public Policy at the USC Gould School of Law, has been named vice provost for academic affairs at USC.

Her appointment, which is effective July 1, was announced by C.L. Max Nikias, USC provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs.

"Beth is one of the country's leading scholars in the interdisciplinary field of law and politics," Nikias said. "She has a clear and creative vision that will help us take USC to the highest levels of achievement."

In addition, Howard Gillman, professor of political science who holds a joint appointment with USC Law, has been named associate vice provost for research advancement, social sciences.

In her new role, Garrett will be responsible for all university academic programs, including cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary programs, centers and initiatives.

She will assist schools in recruiting top scholars and will work on curricular improvement and flexibility at the undergraduate and graduate level consistent with the objectives set out in USC's Plan for Increasing Academic Excellence.

Garrett will also oversee programs to improve the educational experience of undergraduate and graduate students, including those focused on learner-centered programs. She will direct the Graduate School and work with schools to ensure that USC recruits top-notch Ph.D. students, improves the quality of graduate programs at the university, and provides appropriate support in an academic environment.

Garrett will continue her cross-disciplinary work at USC Law, where she is director of the USC-Caltech Center for the Study of Law and Politics and a member of the board of directors of the Initiative & Referendum Institute at USC. She also holds joint appointments with the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and has a courtesy appointment with the USC Annenberg School for Communication.

Since joining USC Law faculty in 2003, Garrett has led cutting-edge research and conferences on law and politics and hybrid democracy. "As the nation's top scholar on the law of the political process, Beth has raised the university's profile as a national center for the study of law and politics," said Matthew Spitzer, dean of USC Gould School of Law. "She has been able to bring together very diverse people and scholarship in ways that advance USC Law's research and teaching missions. In her new role as vice provost, she'll take these efforts to a level that will benefit USC as a whole. We're thrilled to have her representing the law school in this important university position."

A nationally recognized scholar and an expert in budget and tax policy, Garrett was appointed by President George W. Bush to the nine-member bipartisan Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform in February. The panel will present its recommendations for revising the U.S. tax code in late September.Garrett said she is ready for the challenge of taking USC to the next level of excellence. In particular, she said USC's focus on interdisciplinary programs promises to stimulate research, scholarship and teaching that will allow the university to become among the most "innovative and influential," she said.

"USC's gains in academic quality over the past 10 years may well represent the fastest rise in the history of higher education," Garrett said. "I am excited to be working with Provost Nikias to build on and even accelerate that substantial and impressive achievement."