I would like to extend you a warm welcome on behalf of the faculty, staff and students of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Department of Computer Science. It is with great enthusiasm that I begin my tenure as department chair. I came to USC because the Department of Computer Science is not only excellent but also unique. It has more than 40 research faculty members from the world-renowned Information Sciences Institute (ISI)- a major player in the creation of the Internet- and from the Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT). Its faculty contains pioneers in modern cryptography, Internet technologies, software engineering, database, computational neuroscience, robotics, natural language processing, computational biology and network sciences, and it has an innovative education program, including one of the nation’s first programs in game development. In addition, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering offers one of the best environments for interdisciplinary research and international collaboration in the nation. As an alumnus, I am proud of the record of innovation in our department and its affiliated centers: the Domain Name System and the TCP/IP protocols, the invention of DNA computing, and historic interdisciplinary studies relating brains, machines and mathematics. A former student wrote one of the first computer viruses and led the theoretical study of the computer virus concept. I am equally proud of the accomplishments of our current faculty, including path-setting results in social networks, software engineering, high-performance computing, natural language technologies, and the recent Academy award winning work in computer graphics. Their profound and diverse research and educational contributions to a wide array of computer science and interdisciplinary arenas are impressive. I hope you will continue to follow our progress.

You can also find detailed information about all of our degree options, courses, faculty and research throughout this website. To prospective scholars and prospective students, I hope you consider joining us. To all our students, we in the Computer Science Department look forward to working with you to make your USC Viterbi School education a success.