Mankind invented the atomic bomb but no mouse would create a mousetrap. ~ Albert Einstein
Creating...the beautiful culmination of curiosity, discovery, and wonder. Yet our creations and inventions have also proven to be problematic and destructive. Join two professors in conversation whose lives and work aim to enrich our world, but who have no fear of challenging the questionable roads of creating we humans have taken.
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University Professor, Niki and Max Nikias Chair in Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Linguistics, Psychology, Pediatrics, and Otolaryngology
Shrikanth Narayanan received his M.S., Engineer, and Ph.D., all in electrical engineering, from UCLA in 1990, 1992, and 1995, respectively, and his bachelor of engineering in electrical engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy (Chennai, India) in 1988. From 1995-2000 he was with AT&T Labs-Research, Florham Park and AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill--first as a Senior Member and later as a Principal Member of its Technical Staff. Currently he is University Professor and holder of the Niki and Max Nikias Chair in Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC), and a Professor in the Signal and Image Processing Institute of USC's Ming Hsieh Electrical & Computer Engineering department with joint appointments as Professor in Computer Science, Linguistics, Psychology, Neuroscience, Pediatrics and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He is also the inaugural director of the Ming Hsieh Institute and a Research Director for the Information Sciences Institute at USC.
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Associate Dean of Religious Life
Vanessa is the first humanist chaplain to serve in this capacity at any American university. In her role, she works to support and promote university religious and spiritual life broadly conceived, and helps oversee more than 90 student religious groups and 50 religious directors on campus. She also serves as an advisor to the USC Interfaith Council and the Secular Student Fellowship.
Vanessa received dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Religious Studies and Psychology from Arizona State University. She received her Master of Science degree from the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, with an emphasis on religion and peacemaking. She also earned a Master of Divinity degree at the Chicago Theological Seminary. Vanessa also holds a Certificate in Humanist Studies & Leadership from the Humanist Institute and is endorsed as a humanist chaplain by the Humanist Society.
