November 2, 2009 - Professor Steven B. Sample has announced that he will step down as president of University of Southern California (USC) in August 2010.

Professor Sample became the 10th president of the USC in 1991 and in the almost 19 years of his leadership, USC has greatly augmented its scholastic prestige, endowment, and service leadership. 

He saw and capitalized on the potential of the Pacific Rim as the next academic, cultural and economic nexus that gave way to the founding of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) in 1997.

APRU’s Interim Chairman, Professor Wei Yang notes that Professor Sample has been a key mover of the 42-member consortium since its inception. “His vision remains an invaluable asset to APRU and with that we extend our deepest and sincerest appreciation.”

As APRU’s founding chairman, Professor Sample had successfully set APRU’s strategic direction from its modest beginnings to become a reputable international organization of premier research universities fostering collaboration among academic leaders, faculty and students. Professor Sample served two terms as Chairman from 1997 to 2002 and is currently a member of the consortium’s Steering Committee.

An international search to find a successor at USC will be launched next year. USC’s official announcement can be found here.