Steven B. Sample became the 10th president of the University of Southern California (USC) in March 1991. He is the university's first holder of the
Robert C. Packard President's Chair. Under Dr. Sample's leadership USC has become world-renowned in the fields of
communication and multimedia technologies, has received national acclaim for its innovative community
partnerships - most recently with recognition as Time magazine's College of
the Year 2000 - and has solidified its status as one of the nation's leading research universities.
Dr. Sample is an electrical engineer, a musician, an outdoorsman, an inventor, and author of an acclaimed new book, The Contrarian's Guide to
Leadership, which is now a Los Angeles Times best-seller, was chosen by the Toronto Globe and Mail as one of the top 10 business books of 2001, and has
been translated into five languages. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a tenured professor in the USC School of Engineering. His
patents on digital appliance controls have been licensed to practically every major manufacturer of appliance controls and microwave ovens in the
world. Over 300 million home appliances have been built using his inventions.
He and his wife, Kathryn, came to USC from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he served as president from 1982 to 1991. He earned his
bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, and he holds honorary degrees from the
University of Nebraska, Purdue University, the University of Sheffield in England, Canisius College, and Hebrew Union College. Dr. Sample regularly
teaches undergraduates at USC. During the spring semester he and management expert Warren Bennis co-teach a popular course for juniors and seniors
entitled "The Art and Adventure of Leadership."