President, USC
Folt is the 12th president of USC and the first woman to hold the title. She holds the Robert C. Packard President’s Chair and is chair of the Association of American Universities board. Folt was previously chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill and interim president at Dartmouth College; at the latter school she was also provost, dean of faculty and professor of biological sciences. Since becoming the leader of USC in 2019, Folt has expanded the university’s health system; overseen the construction of a campus in Washington, D.C.; and established the university’s artificial intelligence academic and research initiative, which focuses on ethics and analytics across the USC academic programs. Her research on the effects of mercury and arsenic on humans and the ecosystem have led to policy changes and the adoption of global consumption guidelines. She has her bachelor’s degree in aquatic biology and a master’s degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a doctorate in ecology from the University of California, Davis.
YEARS ON LA500: 6
