USC School of Advanced Computing
Launched in 2024, the SAC serves as the primary engine for President Carol Folt’s $1 billion+ Frontiers of Computing, the largest, most comprehensive academic initiative in USC’s history — encompassing computing across USC
The USC School of Advanced Computing
Building on over 50 years of Trojan computing excellence — from the birth of the Internet to the first operational quantum computing system in academia — the USC School of Advanced Computing (SAC) is USC’s 23rd school.
Launched in 2024, the SAC serves as the primary engine for President Carol Folt’s $1 billion+ Frontiers of Computing, the largest, most comprehensive academic initiative in USC’s history — encompassing computing across USC.
The new school, a unit within the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, is the epicenter of all computing-related activities across USC. Among the school’s many ambitious initiatives is to ensure that all USC students, regardless of major, are fluent in the ethical use of computing technology.
The SAC combines the Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science, the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the new Division of Computing Education. It also includes USC Viterbi’s two powerhouse institutes: the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) in Marina del Rey and the Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) in Playa Vista. Additionally, through the creation of Affinity Faculty groups, the SAC includes faculty whose primary appointments are in computing-focused areas across all of USC’s other schools.
The extraordinary advances in computing in recent years are revolutionizing our understanding and exploration of new phenomena —, from the physical and chemical realms to the biological and social domains, paving the way for innovative solutions.
USC is uniquely positioned to supercharge computing across all our 22 schools — engineering, the sciences, the humanities, business, law, communication, the health professions, and the arts.
To use a metaphor from Computer Science - my own discipline - the School of Advanced Computing will take a decidedly full-stack approach to research, innovation, and teaching.
Recent News
For the 20th anniversary of the naming of the USC Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of Engineering, new musical honors Andrew and Erna Viterbi’s love story.
Notable research that drives forward AI capabilities in language, ethics, social science and more
A $1M investment and a new director will propel ISI’s AI4Health center’s mission to advance AI research to tackle some of the most difficult health challenges of our time.
Supported by the U.S. Army, the institute has been a global leader in virtual humans, graphics, AI and mixed reality for the last 25 years.