The faculty members are the first of several new hires expected this academic year.
The USC Price School of Public Policy welcomed three new faculty members for the fall 2026 semester. The new hires strengthen the school’s already renowned group of scholars across public policy, urban planning, health management and real estate development.
The school expects to continue adding new faculty later this year.
The new faculty members include:
- Ji Hyeun Hong, Assistant Professor in the Public Policy and Management Department;
- Ruochen Sun, Research Assistant Professor in the Health Policy and Management Department. Sun is also a scholar at the Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service, which is aligned with the USC Price School;
- Jared Schachner, Research Assistant Professor in the Wilbur H. Smith III Department of Real Estate Development, working with the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
“We are delighted to welcome these talented new faculty members,” said Christopher Boone, Dean of the USC Price School and C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair. “Their expertise and innovative approaches will lead to important new contributions to their fields and ensure our students are learning from leading-edge teacher-scholars.”
“And we’re just getting started: We plan to announce additional faculty hires in the months ahead.”
Hong earned her Master of Public Administration from Seoul National University and her Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Georgia. Her research focuses on how organizational design and management shape the performance of public organizations. Her areas of expertise include public administration, organizational theory, government performance, and digital governance.
Sun earned her Master of Public Health from the Yale University School of Public Health and her Ph.D. in Applied Economics and Managerial Science from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Her research examines how government policy and market design can be leveraged to improve access and efficiency in healthcare, especially for low-income populations. Her areas of expertise include health economics, public finance, and Medicaid.
Schachner earned his Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy at Harvard University. His research uses 21st-century Los Angeles as an empirical case to examine how transformations in urban social infrastructure reshape — and often reproduce — inequalities along the lines of race/ethnicity, class, cognitive skills, and socioemotional health. In addition to the Lusk Center for Real Estate, a USC Price center, Schachner is also affiliated with the Homelessness Policy Research Initiative, another USC Price affiliate.
