All faculty (full-time, adjunct, part-time, and retired) will receive an individualized email link to the electronic ballot on April 27 and have until 5:00pm PST on May 4 to cast their ballot electronically. On the ballot and below, you will find links to candidate information, including each candidate’s short bio, brief self-presentation video, and an information sheet with more detail on the candidate’s background, roles, service, and goals.
A reminder: the continuing members of the Executive Board are:
- Past-President: Tracy Tambascia (Rossier School of Education)
- President: Dan Pecchenino (Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
- Administrative Vice President: Alisa Sánchez (Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
The candidates standing for election are listed below, alphabetically.
Academic Vice-President (Choose One)
Goes on to serve as President and then Past-President
Margo K. Apostolos is a Professor at the University of Southern California serving in the Kaufman School of Dance and the Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Cedars-Sinai/ Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center (2007-present). She earned her PhD from Stanford University, and MA from Northwestern University and a BS from Southern Illinois University. Apostolos served as a Visiting Professor at Princeton University and has taught at Stanford University, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, and Southern Illinois University.
Her research is interdisciplinary from the pioneering work in developing Robot Choreography at Stanford University. Her robotics work included the appointment for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Cal Tech as a research scientist in the area of space telerobotics. She is the recipient of the prestigious NASA/ASEE Faculty Fellowship. Dr. Apostolos has authored and presented numerous articles in robot choreography, dance medicine, health and fitness and dance for sports. Her book Dance for Sports: A Practical Guide published by Oxford University Press was released in 2019. Currently, her book Dance An A Catalyst: An Interdisciplinary Journey is in preparation for release by Kendall-Hunt Publishers in Fall 2023.
Ruben Davila earned his MBA from USC in 1985 and JD from Loyola Law in 2000. He has been on the USC Marshall School of Business and Leventhal School of Accounting faculty for over 35 years as an RTPC Professor of Accounting. He has taught on every level and has served on multiple USC, Marshall, Leventhal committees and boards. Professor Davila has been active in University self-governance for over 10 years having served as an officer and on the Executive Boards of both the USC Academic Senate and the PAC 12 Academic Leadership Coalition. He has been actively involved in Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the University, in the community and in his profession. Professor Davila is a licensed CPA and a licensed attorney and has held several leadership positions in professional organizations.
Secretary General (Choose One)
Serves a two-year term
Trudi Sandmeier is the Director of Graduate Programs in Heritage Conservation and an Associate Professor of Practice in Architecture at USC. She is a co-creator and co-host of the podcast Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation (www.saveas.place) and a co-editor of the Routledge Companion to Global Heritage Conservation (2019). Her work centers on the conservation of the recent past and efforts to make visible the impact of underrepresented constituencies on the historic built environment.
Christal Young is the Acting Head of Leavey Library and also Reference & User Engagement for the USC Libraries. She is an Assistant Professor for the Masters of Management in Library and Information Science through the Marshall School of Business. Christal joined the USC faculty in 2014 as Reference & Instruction Librarian for History and American Studies & Ethnicity. Her research focuses on library pedagogical and outreach support for first year experience, first generation, and international students.
At-Large Member (Choose up to Four)
Serves a one-year term
Ruth Cislowski is a Clinical Associate Professor and Assistant Director of Field Education with the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Her participation in faculty governance includes serving two terms on her school’s faculty council. Her second term as the Vice Chair and a school representative to the Academic Senate. She is currently a member of the Faculty Handbook Committee and the faculty representative to the Student Health Advisory Committee. She has a Master of Social Work and a Master of Arts in Jewish Communal Service.
Sofia Gruskin directs the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (IIGH). She is Professor of Preventive Medicine and Chief of the Disease Prevention, Policy and Global Health Division at the Keck School of Medicine, Professor of Law and Preventive Medicine at the Gould School of Law. Within USC, she is highly engaged in university service including serving as an At Large Member of the Academic Senate Executive Board and a member of the Sustainability, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) working group, of the Presidential Working Group on Sustainability, and is primary convener of the USC Law & Global Health Collaboration.
Rima Jubran is the Designated Institutional Official and Director of Graduate Medical Education at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In this role she oversees all the physician training programs at CHLA. In addition she is a practicing pediatric oncologist in the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute. Her clinical and research areas of focus are patients with retinoblastoma and the histiocytic diseases of childhood. She received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, Master in Public Health degree at George Washington University, Washington, D.C and Master in Academic Medicine at the University of Southern California. Following her residency at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, she completed a fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, D.C. Dr. Jubran is a member of the Retinoblastoma committee of the national Children’s Oncology Group and the Steering committee on Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis of the Histiocyte Society. She is the principal investigator on multiple clinical trials targeting these diseases. Dr. Jubran serves on many committees at CHLA and USC. Dr. Jubran enjoys teaching and mentoring students and physicians in training. She has received multiple teaching and mentoring awards including the USC Mentoring Award for Faculty Mentoring Faculty and Graduate Students, the Walter Laug Award for Teaching and Mentorship (awarded by the Pediatric hematology/oncology fellows at CHLA) and the Outstanding Teaching in Professionalism in the Practice of Medicine award (awarded by the Keck medical students). A life-long learner, she most recently completed the Executive Leadership Program in Academic Medicine Program (Drexel University) in July 2021.
LaVonna Blair Lewis joined the USC faculty in 1996 from Rice University where she received her PhD in Political Science. Dr. Lewis’s areas of research and professional interests consistently focus on cultural competency and health equity, both targeting the health status and health care needs of underrepresented groups. In all arenas, she is concerned with lifting up authentic voices as a means to generate honest dialogue and engagement as catalysts for change.
John Matsusaka is an expert on direct democracy and corporate organization who publishes in economics, finance, law, and political science. His most recent book is Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge. (2020). Matsusaka provides commentary for media outlets including ABC News, CNN, Fox News, NPR, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Los Angeles Times. He is executive director of the Initiative and Referendum Institute, held visiting appointments at Stanford, UCLA, Caltech, and University of Chicago, and consulted for the White House Council of Economic Advisors.
Professor Parr earned her BA in Chemistry from Goucher College in 2002 and her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Southern California in 2007. She was hired as a lecturer in the Chemistry Department in 2007 and has been promoted through the ranks, becoming Professor (Teaching) of Chemistry in 2021. She has served on a wide variety of Department, School and University Committees since 2010. Her research includes innovative instructional methods to make General Chemistry more accessible to students.
Ramandeep Singh Randhawa is a Professor of Data Sciences and Operations at the USC Marshall School. He obtained his PhD from Stanford University in 2006, and joined USC in 2009. He currently serves as the vice dean for Marshall undergraduate programs, and has previously served as a Department Chair and as president of Marshall Faculty Council. He has received numerous awards for teaching and research excellence, and the Dean’s Award for Community.
Howard A. Rodman is a Professor (and former Chair) of the John Wells Division of Writing for Screen and Television in the School of Cinematic Arts. He is the author of the novel THE GREAT EASTERN published in 2019 by Melville House Books/Penguin Random House and DESTINY EXPRESS, from Atheneum. As a screenwriter, Rodman wrote SAVAGE GRACE, AUGUST, and JOE GOULD’S SECRET. He currently writes on a series for HBO. He is the past president of the Writers Guild of America West; a member of the National Film Preservation Board; and an artistic director of the Sundance Screenwriting Lab, and a Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic. In 2020 he was given USC’s Associates Award for Artistic Achievement, “the highest honor the University bestows on its members for significant artistic impact.”