C. L. Max Nikias

Chrysostomos L. "Max" Nikias (born September 30, 1952 in Cyprus) became the University of Southern California's eleventh president in August 2010. He holds the Robert C. Packard President's Chair and the Malcolm R. Currie Chair in Technology and the Humanities, and chairs the USC Health System Board. He has been at USC since 1991, as a professor, director of national research centers, dean, provost, and now president. He holds faculty appointments in both electrical engineering and the classics, and leads special freshman seminars each fall on ancient Athenian democracy and drama.

Early life

Nikias was born on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. There, he graduated with honors from the Famagusta Gymnasium, a school that emphasizes sciences, history, and Greco-Roman classics. He married his wife Niki in 1977, and the couple have two daughters, Georgiana and Maria. He received a degree in electrical and mechanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in 1977, and has an academic interest in Athenian drama and democracy. Nikias earned a master's degree in 1980 and a Ph.D. in 1982 in electrical engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo. (His predecessor as USC president, Steven Sample, is likewise an electrical engineer, and served as president of SUNY-Buffalo from 1982 to 1991.)