The USC Libraries celebrated the intellectual and creative achievements of our USC students at a series of annual events during USC’s Commencement Week.
On Wednesday, May 8, the Phi Kappa Phi initiation ceremony honored the newest members of the university’s oldest interdisciplinary honor society. PKP inducted 133 new members from across USC’s schools and units and awarded 6 scholarships or fellowships to promising Trojan students. Halle Hunt, Lizzy Kim, Rachel Wiggins, and Kimberly Villard received scholarships to support summer research projects, and Kate McQuarrie and Hallie Wagner received Carl and Sterling Franklin Fellowship awards to support their first years of graduate study.
The society also inducted 3 new faculty members, Mark Humayan of Keck School of Medicine of USC, Rebecca Lemon of USC Dornsife College, and Shang-Hua Tang of USC Dornsife College and USC Viterbi School of Engineering. The USC Libraries serve as the administrative home to the USC chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.
The next morning, on Thursday, May 9, the USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study inducted 20 new graduating fellows. In remarks at the induction ceremony, fellows reflected on their experiences at Academy programs, including Catalina Island retreats, collaboratories at the Ahmanson Lab, and the Los Angeles: A Polymathic Inquiry class.
Founded in 2011 within the USC Libraries, the Academy encourages integrated interdisciplinary investigation through encounters with eminent scholars, artists and professional practitioners. Each year, it inducts new fellows—students, faculty, and other participants—who have completed a required series of meetings over the course of their academic tenure at USC.
On Friday, May 10, the USC Libraries hosted a celebration for 28 graduates from USC’s Master of Management in Library and Information Science (MMLIS). The keynote speaker was Janice Welburn, director of the UCLA Library Senior Fellows Program and dean emerita of Marquette University Libraries.
The USC Libraries welcomed the first cohort of MMLIS students for the innovative program in collaboration with the USC Marshall School of Business in the summer of 2013. The program is moving to a new administrative home at USC Bovard College, which welcomes its first cohort of incoming MMLIS students in the fall of 2024.
Enjoy the gallery of photos from the USC Libraries’ commencement celebrations.
