Dean’s Cabinet
The Dean’s Cabinet consists of faculty representatives and senior staff who guide the Dean in formulating and implementing the strategic vision for the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Christopher Boone
USC Price Dean, C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair for the Sol Price School of Public Policy
Christopher G. Boone is the Dean and the C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair for the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. At the USC Price School, he holds an academic appointment as Professor of Public Policy. He received a PhD degree in Geography from the University of Toronto and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the School of the Environment at McGill University. His research contributes to scholarship and practice in sustainable urbanization, environmental justice, urban ecology, global environmental change, and higher education innovation. Before joining USC, Boone was the Dean of the School of Sustainability and Founding Dean of the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University. He has held visiting professor positions in the Department of Biology at Georgetown University and in the Yale School of the Environment.
RGL 312
213-740-0350
[email protected]
Grace Bahng
Vice Dean for Undergraduate Programs
Grace Bahng is the Vice Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Professor (Teaching) at the USC Price School of Public Policy. Her teaching interests are policy analysis, data visualization, client-based policy research, and public ethics. As Vice Dean, she collaborates with departments and programs to enhance the quality of curriculum, classroom instruction, experiential learning, and professional development. She has served on Tableau’s Teaching Advisory Council, directed non-profit internship programs, and worked as a consultant in program evaluation. In addition to her MPP and Ph.D. in public policy from USC, Bahng also has a B.S. in Computer Science from MIT and was previously a professor at Azusa Pacific University teaching global policy for 10 years.
RGL 306
213-740-4766
[email protected]
Erika Bernal
Associate Dean for Advancement & Chief Development Officer
Erika has personally helped raise over $40 million in outright and deferred gifts for deserving students, medical and academic research, capital projects, as well as community and student support programs. She has also contributed to multiple successful campaigns that collectively raised more than $1 billion dollars in direct financial support. She has over twenty years of philanthropic fundraising and operations experience in prestigious higher education, healthcare, and policy organizations across California, including Pomona College, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and UC Irvine Health. Erika earned her MBA in leadership and strategy from Claremont Graduate University and completed her Certified Fund Raising Executive designation in 2016.
562-458-7844
[email protected]
Marlon Boarnet
Professor and Faculty Council Chair
Dr. Marlon Boarnet, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the METRANS Transportation Research Center, is a renowned authority on urban economics, urban growth patterns, transportation, and regional science. He is an expert in transportation and land use, and has served on the National Research Council committee that authored “Driving and the Built Environment.”
(213) 740-3696
[email protected]
Alice Chen
Vice Dean for Research
As Vice Dean for Research, Alice promotes research excellence at USC Price. She provides support and guidance to faculty in their research endeavors, identifies opportunities for research funding, evaluates research impact and quality, fosters growth of and collaboration across research centers, and represents Price in broader research strategy and planning within the university. Alice holds a PhD and MBA in Business Economics from the University of Chicago.
VPD 414M
213-821-1763
[email protected]
Jason N. Doctor
Professor and Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs
Jason is Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs. He has maintained a federally funded program of research in medical quality improvement and decision-making for the past 20 years. His research on how to improve physician decision-making has led to policy changes at the County, State, and federal levels. He holds a PhD from the University of California at San Diego.
VPD 210
213-821-8142
[email protected]
Richard K. Green
Professor
Chair, Smith Department of Real Estate Development
Richard K. Green, Ph.D., leads the Smith Department of Real Estate Development and is the Director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. He holds the Lusk Chair in Real Estate and is a Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Marshall School of Business. His research addresses housing markets, housing policy, tax policy, transportation, mortgage finance and urban growth. He is a member of two academic journal editorial boards, and a reviewer for several others.
RGL 331B
213-740-4093
[email protected]
Lance Ignon
Senior Associate Dean of Communication
Lance oversees the school’s branding, editorial content and academic conference promotion. His department highlights faculty research, student experiences and alumni accomplishments through written stories, videos, social media, podcasts and webinars. Lance began his career in journalism, then spent 20 years in corporate communication and founded a firm focused on climate change communication before joining the USC Price School. He holds a master’s in journalism from Columbia University.
SCT 1504
213-740-0350
[email protected]
Kattie Johnson
Associate Dean, Faculty and Academic Affairs
Kattie Johnson is the Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs at the Price School. She oversees the administrative operations of faculty and academic affairs, including faculty recruitment and contracts, appointment, promotions, and tenure, as well as the annual faculty peer review and salary setting process and faculty compliance issues. Her department also manages teaching loads, course scheduling, teaching evaluations, curricular management, grade submissions, and supporting school-wide faculty committees and meetings. She ensures excellence and equity through collaborative strategic efforts and initiatives in her role. Kattie is a two-time USC graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in education from USC.
RGL 307
213-740-4535
[email protected]
Julie Kim
Assistant Dean, Student Affairs
Julie leads the Office of Student Affairs and is dedicated to supporting, educating, and engaging students. The office’s mission is to provide support that propels students toward accomplishing their academic, personal, and career aspirations. Julie’s team orchestrates essential undertakings, including orientations, welcome events, commencement, student engagement events, international exchanges and labs, and student appeals. They cultivate a vibrant student culture involving recognized student organizations. In addition, Julie advises students, faculty, and staff on navigating intricate student situations. Julie’s experience spans two decades in academic programs, event management, and student affairs. Her educational background includes an M.Ed. in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from USC.
RGL 111
213-740-1205
[email protected]
Carol Gonzalez
Executive Assistant to the Dean
Carol has served in higher education since 2001 in various support roles at Claremont Graduate University, Cal Poly Pomona, and UC Riverside. Her most recent position was at the University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) where she served as the executive assistant to the president. She has a rich trove of experience in organization, collaboration, and special projects. Carol earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science at Pitzer College (2011) and is currently working on her Master of Arts in public administration. She enjoys spending time with her adult daughter and three rescue dogs.
RGL 312
213-821-9808
[email protected]
LaVonna Lewis
Vice Dean for Community Dialogue and Engagement
LaVonna Lewis’s personal and professional interests consistently focus on equity and inclusion in all aspects of society. As such, she feels she has a twofold mission in life—to make the invisible, visible, and to make people uncomfortable-both of which provide people with an opportunity to grow, as they see through the eyes of others. During her time at USC, she has won several teaching awards and recognition from a broad set of community-based organizations. In all arenas, she is concerned with lifting up authentic voices as a means to generate honest dialogue and engagement as catalysts for change.
RGL 309
213-740-4280
[email protected]
Juliet Musso
Vice Dean for Graduate Programs
Juliet is the Vice Dean of Graduate Programs, providing oversight of graduate programs, student affairs, the Office of Career Services, and online educational strategy at the Price School. She also serves as program director for the Master of Public Administration program. A faculty member in the Department of Public Policy and Management, Musso has expertise in state and local governance, and has published on neighborhood governance and urban revitalization, public performance, and intergovernmental finance.
RGL 312D
213-740-0357
[email protected]
Marisol Rios
Assistant Dean of Admissions
Marisol oversees all aspects of recruitment, admissions, and scholarship allocation. Her team works closely and collaboratively with department chairs and the Price School leadership to establish and meet enrollment goals. Marisol has more than 20 years of experience in postsecondary education in recruitment and admission. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Cal Poly Pomona and a Master of Education in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs from the USC Rossier School of Education.
RGL 101E
213-740-0527
[email protected]
Carol Rush
Chief Operating Officer
Carol oversees the financial and administrative operations of the Price School, and supervises the offices of finance, human resources, facilities, information technology, data analytics, and admissions. She and her team design business operations strategies, provide leadership and management guidance, and ensure appropriate talent selection, financial and technological resources so the school can achieve its strategic objectives. She is a long-term Price employee and is double Trojan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in public administration from the Price School.
RGL 312
213-740-0350
[email protected]
David Sloane
Professor
Chair, Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis
David is a department chair overseeing three degrees in urban planning. He works with his team to admit students, update curriculum, and keep students and faculty happy and productive. He edited the multi-authored book Planning Los Angeles in 2012. He wrote Is the Cemetery Dead? (2018), which explores current innovations in commemoration. He has recently collaborated with Brettany Shannon and Anne Bray on Co-Creative Placekeeping inLos Angeles: Artists and Communities Working Together (Routledge, 2024) that explores how artists work with communities co-creatively.
RGL 313
213-740-5768
[email protected]
Neeraj Sood
Professor
Interim Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management
Neeraj Sood, PhD, is a professor at the USC Price School of Public Policy with joint appointments at the USC Keck School of Medicine and USC Marshall School of Business. He is the Director of COVID Initiative and a senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center. His research focuses on economic epidemiology, infectious diseases, pharmaceutical markets, health insurance, economics of innovation, Medicare, and global health.
VPD 512F
213-821-7949
[email protected]
Shui Yan Tang
Professor, Frances R. and John J. Duggan Professor in Public Administration
Chair, Department of Public Policy and Management
Shui Yan Tang leads the Department of Public Policy and Management and his research focuses on institutional analysis and design, common-pool resource governance, environmental politics and policy, collaborative governance, and governance reform.
RGL 206
213-740-0379
[email protected]