The USC Price School’s department chairs have a lot of responsibility, overseeing everything from supporting faculty and mentoring students to developing academic programs and executing the dean’s vision.
Those are many duties (and a lot of related paperwork), which is one reason why the USC Price School rotates its department chairs. Another reason is to bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the departments that house the school’s public policy, health policy, urban planning and real estate programs.
This year, the USC Price School has three new department chairs: Professor Elizabeth Graddy, Professor Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, and Associate Professor Geoff Boeing. (Professor Richard Green remains Chair of the Wilbur H. Smith III Department of Real Estate Development).
We caught up with the new chairs to ask about their visions for their departments. Their answers were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Professor Elizabeth Graddy, Jeffrey J. Miller Chair in Government, Business, and the Economy; Chair, Department of Public Policy and Management
Graddy recently returned to the USC Price School faculty after serving USC for eight years as Interim Provost, Executive Vice Provost, and Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs.
Her expertise is in institutional economics and public policy. Her notable research has studied the evolution of new industries, contracting decisions by local governments, and the role of nonprofits and philanthropic organizations in serving the public interest.
In her words: “I want to work with our faculty to do a very deep review of the degree curricula in our programs. I want to ensure that we are current, that we are responsive to the major changes that we’re seeing in higher education and in the public sector in the United States, and to make sure that our courses are giving our students what they need in this new environment.
“There are several dimensions to this. One is directly confronting the implications around artificial intelligence, including its effects on higher education and the future workforce. Another is making it clear the value we are adding, for example, providing experiential learning and research opportunities for our students. We need to provide these at all levels. It’s obviously what we do at the doctoral level, but many undergraduates come here for the opportunity to work with faculty.”
“I also want to work to provide a departmental environment that is conducive to faculty success, and provide mentoring for our junior faculty.”
Professor Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Elizabeth Garrett Endowed Chair in Health Policy, Economics, and Law; Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management
Pacula is an applied microeconomist with more than 30 years of experience advising policymakers on policies related to addictive products (such as cannabis and opioids), treatments that address addiction and mental health disorders, and programs aimed at reducing engagement with the criminal justice system.
Her research has been cited in the Economic Report of the President, Congressional Research Services Reports, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. She has been invited to speak in front of Congress, state legislators and regulators, as well as the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime.
In her words: “My vision for the department is that it remains a harmonious, dynamic and energetic place for research, teaching innovations, and service, where faculty, students and staff feel empowered to reach their fullest potential. We are so lucky to have a department of colleagues that genuinely like and care about each other, and who are willing to support and collaborate with each other. That sort of environment creates the “special sauce” that allows faculty to flourish with their research and teaching, students to remain motivated, engaged and involved, and staff to feel valued and needed.
“And it is necessary for us to remain one of the most productive health policy departments in the nation. People might not be aware but the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, which the vast majority of our faculty are part of, is ranked No. 2 worldwide in health economics, according to IDEAS/RePEc (a central index of economics and finance research), outperforming institutions like Stanford, Chicago, MIT and Johns Hopkins. That’s huge, and something I want to make sure I continue to support for the other disciplines that are core for our health policy degree.”
Associate Professor Geoff Boeing, Chair, Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis
Boeing’s research explores the spatial outcomes of urban planning through network analysis, geospatial data science, simulation modeling, machine learning, and AI. Last year, he won the Nobel Sustainability Trust (NST) Sustainability Award for his work on the Global Observatory for Healthy and Sustainable Cities (GOHSC), which helps cities around the world measure their progress toward becoming healthier and more sustainable.
His work is regularly featured in the media—including The Economist, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post—and he has presented it in keynote talks around the world.
In his words: “I have three goals. One, grow our department: we have an exciting opportunity right now to hire new, young faculty working in innovative growth areas.
Two, continue and advance our department’s culture of research at the cutting edge, as a top planning department in a research-oriented university.
Three, tailor our degree programs to maximize students’ return on investment by bringing cutting-edge research into the classroom, offering opportunities to collaborate on research with leading scholars, and having students take classes with adjunct faculty who are professional industry leaders in Southern California. I want to target our degree programs and course offerings to think ahead to what urban planning careers over the next 30 years will look like, to create the next generation of leaders in the field.”
