Genevieve Giuliano Named Interim Dean of the USC Price School

The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy welcomed a familiar – and beloved – face as its new interim dean.

USC Provost Andrew Guzman announced today that USC Price School Distinguished Professor Genevieve Giuliano will take over the position on July 1, 2024, when Dana Goldman steps down to become director of the new USC Schaeffer Institute of Public Policy & Government Service.

“The Price School will be in excellent hands with Gen at the helm,” said Goldman, who has served as dean and C. Erwin & Ione Piper Chair of the USC Price School for the past four years. “She is a distinguished scholar, an admired teacher, and a skilled administrator who requires no on-the-job training. And she’s a joy to work with.”

Goldman will return to being a member of the USC Price School’s faculty after assuming the directorship of the Schaeffer Institute. He will also remain co-director of the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, which will become a unit of the Schaeffer Institute. Giuliano will remain interim dean until a permanent one is appointed.

“I am looking forward to fulfilling this critical role as we congratulate Dana on his new role in the Schaeffer Institute,” Giuliano said. “I am grateful for all the support I am receiving and welcome the opportunity to work with our talented faculty, students and staff.”

Giuliano, the Margaret and John Ferraro Chair in Effective Local Government, joined USC more than 35 years ago. She has a notable career as an expert in travel behavior, transportation policy and metropolitan spatial structure. 

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Last year, USC named Giuliano a Distinguished Professor in recognition of her work having contributed to the enlightenment and advancement of society. It is one of the university’s highest honors.

She earned the distinction just one year after having been elected a fellow of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI), which recognized her as a regional scientist with outstanding research credentials.

An innovator in her field, she was among the first to study gender differences in travel behavior and later to partner with computer science and engineering to explore land use and freight transportation relationships.

As the first USC Price School associate dean for research, Giuliano established crucial school infrastructure, including the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. She also directed and built the METRANS Transportation Consortium into a primary center for multi-year research projects. 

A partnership between USC and Cal State University Long Beach, METRANS’ mission is to solve transportation problems of large metropolitan regions through interdisciplinary research, education, and research.

METRANS grew under Giuliano’s tenure from a small operation to one that conducts about $8 million worth of research every year. She stepped down as director of METRANS in 2022 after more than 20 years.

As Giuliano’s successor, Marlon Boarnet, said at the time: “Following in the footsteps of somebody like Gen Giuliano is both an honor and, of course, a little daunting.”

Giuliano participated in the first study of impacts of global climate change on the U.S. transportation system. At the state level, she is working with the California Department of Transportation and the California Air Resources Board on the implementation of the California Sustainable Freight Action Plan and subsequent legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with California’s freight industry.

She has received multiple distinguished scholarship awards, as well as the USC Distinguished Faculty Service Award, and has served on several National Academy of Sciences (NAS) committees, including the NAS Committee on Global Climate Change.