THE LATEST: Folt became USC's 12th president — and first female leader — on July 1. She succeeded interim president Wanda Austin, who took over after C.L. Max Nikias stepped down in the summer of 2018. Folt's mission has been to restore order at a school that has been hit by scandals, including a federal college-admissions investigation and misconduct allegations against a former campus gynecologist. In February, Folt launched an initiative to make USC tuition-free for undergraduates from low- and middle-income families earning $80,000 or less. In November, the Lord Foundation of California, a nonprofit foundation that supports USC, announced it had received $260 million from the recent sale of North Carolina-based Lord Corp. to fund research and teaching.



BACKGROUND: Folt served as chancellor for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2013 until early 2019. She was previously an acting president of Dartmouth College, where she spent 12 years in administrative roles.



YEARS ON THE LA500: 2