Mungo Graduate Teaching Award winner: Qian Wang, chemistry and biochemistry
September 15, 2026, Megan Sexton
Qian Wang, Carolina Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, was chosen as the recipient of the 2026 Michael J. Mungo Graduate Teaching Award.
September 15, 2026, Megan Sexton
Qian Wang, Carolina Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, was chosen as the recipient of the 2026 Michael J. Mungo Graduate Teaching Award.
September 14, 2026, Zoe Nicholson
What if the key to discovery is imperfection? Led by USC chemist Morgan Stefik, a team of researchers has found that flaws in crystal anodes could help lithium-ion batteries charge faster and last longer. The practical uses of the discovery offer enticing applications in energy storage.
September 11, 2026, Téa Smith
McCausland College of Arts and Sciences professor Agnes Mueller aims to develop a deep curiosity and encourages true intellectual diversity in her students. She has found the best way to do that is by sticking to basics and keeping her classroom a tech-free zone.
September 11, 2026, Dan Cook
Arnold School Clinical Professor Angela McLeod prepares future speech-language pathologists through hands-on training with patients of all ages. As director of the Montgomery Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic, she also oversees a far-reaching clinical effort that reflects the university’s broad expertise in communication disorders.
September 09, 2026, Collyn Taylor
Two University of South Carolina faculty were recently awarded significant grants as part of the first wave projects selected for the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission. Designed to bring together a national consortium of researchers and pair them with Department of Energy resources, the Genesis Mission will help build AI-enabled workflows to expedite discoveries in energy, national security and more.
August 26, 2026, Gregory Hardy
Nuclear energy is drawing renewed attention as the nation considers reliable power, advanced reactors, safety and its energy future. This list connects journalists with faculty experts from the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing who study how nuclear reactors work, how to make them safer and how new technologies are shaping the field’s future.
August 26, 2026, Dan Cook
The Darla Moore school of Business marketing professor meets the moment by integrating AI into the classroom.
August 24, 2026, Gregory Hardy
University of South Carolina researchers explore how artificial intelligence can be used for advancements in health care, education, manufacturing, energy, disaster management and transportation. They are also helping shape and inform the ethics and policies surrounding these emergent solutions.
August 24, 2026, Craig Brandhorst
Professor Betsy Blake scaffolds complex material so, by graduation, students are ready to tackle the complex formula of a pharmacy career.
August 21, 2026, Andy Shain
Rose Buyck Newton, a third-generation banker who chairs the board at the Bank of Clarendon, was elected chairwoman of the USC Board of Trustees
August 21, 2026, Andy Shain
With Newton’s election as chair, USC joins a small but growing number of South Carolina college boards led by women.
August 20, 2026, Thom Harman
Amy Gerald, an assistant professor of English at USC Lancaster, uses community-connected projects and experiential learning to prepare her students for whatever career they choose. Whether it’s partnering with local nonprofits to solve real-world business problems or assigning observational writing assignments at USC Lancaster’s Native American Studies Center, Gerald’s innovative approaches to teaching stand out both in and beyond the classroom.
August 14, 2026, Communications and Marketing
Understanding how the brain works and improving outcomes for patients are major priorities for USC researchers. That work gained momentum this year with the opening of the new Brain Health Center, which is just one of the ways the university is concentrating on the brain.
August 12, 2026, Laura Erskine
Pharmacist and instructor Kathy Quarles Moore is known for finding new ways to engage students. From keeping students on their toes in the lab to welcoming them to a peaceful garden in the College of Pharmacy’s courtyard, Moore’s holistic and student-centered approach to teaching has earned her the 2026 Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award.
August 12, 2026, Rebekah Friedman
Associate professor Stephanie Schaller designed Study Navigator, a custom AI-enhanced study tool that prepares nursing students for the decision-making that happens in clinical practice. The tool is just one way Schaller brings classroom lessons to life.
August 11, 2026, Rebekah Friedman
From haiku about water fleas to a class designed for dog lovers, biological sciences professor Jeff Dudycha finds unexpected ways to help students understand genomics, ecology and evolutionary biology.
August 10, 2026, Gregory Hardy
A successful USC program that prepares future nursing faculty is now a statewide partnership to help address one of South Carolina's biggest healthcare workforce challenges. Expanding Nursing Faculty Pipeline is a College of Nursing initiative to prepare the next generation of nurse educators.
August 10, 2026, Rebekah Friedman
The McCausland Center’s MRI scanner is a 3 Tesla, twice the strength of typical MRIs. Access to equipment of that caliber has enabled the center to bring in tens of millions in grant funding and has led to an explosion in research studies that have advanced our understanding of aphasia, stroke treatment and brain aging.
August 05, 2026, Laura Erskine
As a clinical associate professor at USC’s School of Medicine Greenville, Alison Huppmann teaches medical students in their first two years of the program. Her goal is to equip her students with a broad understanding of medicine. Her efforts have now been recognized with the 2026 Garnet Apple Award for Teaching Innovation.
August 05, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen
Susan Richardson, Arthur Sease Williams Professor of Chemistry at the University of South Carolina, has been named winner of the prestigious 2026 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Scientific Research.
August 05, 2026, Hunter Mutherspaw
The University of South Carolina has introduced several transportation updates for Fall 2026, including a new low-cost Founders Park parking permit, the Campus Connector shuttle and the upgraded ParkUSC+ app with real-time shuttle tracking, trip planning and parking updates.
August 05, 2026, Gregory Hardy
Melissa Nolan, associate professor of epidemiology in the Arnold School of Public Health, has received the 2026 South Carolina Governor's Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Scientific Research. It honors her nationally recognized work to understand and prevent infectious diseases.
July 27, 2026, Chris Horn
Aaron Vannucci doesn’t have a sophisticated philosophy to explain his teaching style. He merely points back to his own high school chemistry teacher, who inspired him with his consistent excitement for the topic. Vannucci brings the same enthusiasm to his classrooms, and he is the winner of USC's 2026 Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award.
July 24, 2026, Megan Sexton
As a full-time professional track faculty member in the College of Pharmacy and a staff pharmacist at Prisma Health Richland, Caroline Asbill has combined her love of teaching with the practice of pharmacy.
July 23, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen
Known for her fluid, label-defying prose, author Julia Elliott found herself in excellent company last month among a literary cadre of distinct, even unconventional voices. She read the work of her fellow finalists with awe, never thinking she would win. But it was her name announced over the sound system as the winner of the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for her critically acclaimed, genre-bending short-story collection "Hellions."
July 20, 2026, Chris Horn
University of South Carolina nursing students are learning to communicate more effectively with patients through a unique simulation that pairs them with standardized patients living with aphasia.
July 20, 2026, Donovan Fifield
The Declaration of Independence was only the first step in making a unified country. A competing set of state and local interests required a defense of the U.S. Constitution (the Federalist Papers), which sought to define the role of government to keep basic human impulses toward political abuse, self-interest and even violence in check.
July 15, 2026, Chris Horn
From helping to establish a popular undergraduate neuroscience major to attracting millions in research grants, the Carolina Autism and Neurodevelopment Research Center at USC has achieved notable success since its launch seven years ago. And the momentum isn’t slowing. The center’s leadership has ambitious plans to serve more citizens of South Carolina.
July 13, 2026, Hunter Mutherspaw
As USC prepares for the 2026–27 academic year, the university is introducing new technologies, including mobile IDs, smart parking, autonomous food delivery and occupancy tracking and cashier-less stores.
July 06, 2026, Hunter Mutherspaw
A University of South Carolina computer science capstone project led by graduate Michael Carson has grown into an AI-powered internship project that helps USC Facilities analyze maintenance data, automate reporting and improve campus operations through smarter, data-driven decision-making.
June 26, 2026, Kevin J. Bennett
An influx of cash would help stabilize rural health systems. Kevin J. Bennett, director of the Center for Rural & Primary Healthcare, writes for The Conversation on how the program’s focus on technology might leave other major issues unaddressed.
June 26, 2026, Hunter Mutherspaw
Beginning in Fall 2026, University of South Carolina students, faculty and staff will be able to use their smartphones or compatible smartwatches as their official CarolinaCard, allowing them to access campus buildings, make purchases, borrow library materials and use other campus services with a simple tap.
June 22, 2026, Hadley McCollester
Combine five incredible artifacts from the USC libraries special collections with four passionate university scholars, and you get 20 minutes of fun facts, lively debate and intellectual inspiration.
June 19, 2026, Andy Shain
University of South Carolina trustees approved a 2026-27 fiscal year budget and advanced key projects tied to the Columbia campus’s USC Next master plan.
June 19, 2026, Téa Smith
For her dissertation at Carlton University in Canada, assistant professor Margaret Janse van Rensburg collaborated with the Ottawa Adult Autism Initiative to better understand how human service workers can help autistic adults overcome barriers to accessing mental health support. Now, at USC, she is expanding on her research and working toward her goal to enhance outcomes for autistic people.
June 18, 2026, Andy Shain
University of South Carolina trustees approved a 2026-27 fiscal year budget that freezes in-state tuition systemwide and advanced key projects tied to the Columbia campus’s USC Next master plan.
June 17, 2026, Anna Francis
Play is the language of children. Through a Duke Endowment-funded partnership with USC, Aiken County school counselors are learning play therapy and family engagement strategies that help students build resilience and feel heard.
June 16, 2026, Hunter Mutherspaw
The National Advocacy Center at the University of South Carolina provides an all-in-one training, lodging and learning hub for U.S. Department of Justice professionals, supported behind the scenes by USC Business Affairs and the Justice Television Network.
May 27, 2026, Scott Parrott
Because elite athletes are seen as admired role models, many enjoy lucrative contracts as spokespeople for a variety of products. When Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran recently was harassed after revealing a mental illness, his expression of regret could potentially discourage others from talking publicly about their struggles for fear it could be weaponized against them. USC professor Scott Parrott explores this in a recent article for The Conversation.
May 18, 2026, Delaney Freistuhler
Amanda J. Fairchild has been named faculty director of the Capstone Scholars Program, effective May 16.
May 12, 2026, Andy Shain
The University of South Carolina has agreed to license an algorithm developed by a renowned cancer and nutritional epidemiologist to 20/20 BioLabs, a health sciences company that offers home cancer screening tests.
May 08, 2026, Chris Horn
Joe Roof’s students had been preparing for their final test all semester: a modified triathlon super sprint. The students completed 200 meters swimming followed by seven miles pedaling on indoor spin bikes and two miles jogging on the Blatt practice field. It was the perfect ending to an elective physical education class called Triathlon Training.
May 08, 2026, Craig Brandhorst
The University of South Carolina marching band won the 2025 EA Sports Metallica Collegiate Edition Marching Band Competition, a one-time chance to record a new arrangement of an iconic Metallica song for the next iteration of EA Sports popular College Football video game.
May 07, 2026, Chris Horn
Frank Avignone has been fascinated by physics longer than most people have been alive, an intense curiosity that began in the waning days of World War II. Now, more than six decades after being recruited to the faculty of USC’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, Avignone continues to conduct particle physics research with renowned scholars, some of them at international laboratories he helped build decades ago.
May 04, 2026, Craig Brandhorst
USC anthropologist Magadalena Stawkowski spent years interviewing the people who live near the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in rural Kazakhstan. Her 2025 book, “Atomic Collective”, examines culture and community in one of the most toxic places on Earth.
April 29, 2026, Delaney Freistuhler
Mensch currently serves as director of the athletic training program and clinical associate professor in the Department of Exercise Science. With over more than 25 years at the university, he has advanced healthcare education through mentorship, experiential learning, and collaboration.
April 27, 2026, Delaney Freistuhler
USC poets describe poetry as a powerful, accessible way to slow down, process experiences, and connect through language and shared human emotions, regardless of one’s background or path to it.
April 23, 2026, Andy Shain
The University of South Carolina Board of Trustees met Friday (April 24) at Gateway 737 and approved several contracts and stadium bond financing.
April 23, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen
Award-winning professor Beth Krizek has been named an American Association for the Advancement of Science Honorary Fellow. Learn more about her research in plant biology.
April 21, 2026, Hunter Mutherspaw
This Earth Day, Carolina Food Co. highlights its efforts to advance sustainability at USC through food waste reduction, recovery, and composting.
April 10, 2026, Delaney Freistuhler
Building on the University of South Carolina’s early adoption of ChatGPT and its continued commitment to responsible AI use, Provost Mary Anne Fitzpatrick has appointed Mark Uline as the university’s first associate vice president and vice provost for AI strategy.
April 08, 2026, Magdalena Stawkowski
Writing for The Conversation, associate professor Magdalena Stawkowski describes her field research at a Soviet-era nuclear test site in Kazakhstan. Thousands still live around its cratered perimeter and stay because of their collective refusal to reject systems that had abandoned them and instead create their own terms for survival.
April 02, 2026, Chris Horn
Blood clots in the lungs are a leading cause of cardiovascular-related deaths. But what if gene editing, made possible through ultra-small nanoparticles, could effectively treat clot-induced tissue damage? For USC School of Medicine Columbia scientist Colin Evans, the question is no longer hypothetical.
April 01, 2026, Laura Erskine
When Peiyin Hung talks about her path to public health, she comes back to the day her grandmother told her to study hard so her voice will be heard. That seed of passion, planted in a hospital hallway in Taiwan, eventually led Hung to the Arnold School’s Rural Health Research Center, where she continues to grow her research efforts.
March 26, 2026, Alexis Watts and Michaela Taylor
Thanks to the generosity of the USC community, Give 4 Garnet reports a preliminary total of nearly $1.3 million and counting raised from 6,250 donors, showcasing the collective power of giving back.
March 19, 2026, Andy Shain
What the USC Board of Trustees approved at their March meeting — including new construction and renovation projects, various contracts, academic changes, and housing and meal fees.
March 19, 2026, Andy Shain
The USC Board of Trustees formally approved a number of new construction and renovation projects, including a neurological hospital and rehabilitation center, and received updates on the university’s master plan, including redeveloping the student union and developments on South Main Street. Trustees also adopted a resolution in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the 225th anniversary of the founding of USC.
March 17, 2026, Gregory Hardy
USC marked a major milestone in providing specialized cognitive care at a ribbon cutting for its Brain Health Center on the Health Sciences Campus on Wednesday. The facility is designed to deliver exceptional diagnostic, treatment and support for patients living with cognitive conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
March 12, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen
There are only about 384 North Atlantic right whales remaining on Earth. That’s fewer than the number of students living in the Capstone dorm. The latest count is cause for alarm, and the whales’ leading killers are entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes.
March 11, 2026, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina and Prisma Health are partnering to provide specialized care for patients with complex neurological conditions at the new Brain Health Center in Columbia. The center will expand statewide access to advanced technology, expert care teams and innovative treatments.
March 06, 2026, Laura Erskine
Medicine’s understanding of women’s health lags behind men’s. At USC, researchers in multiple fields are working to address the women’s health care gap. One of them is Alyson McGregor, an emergency medicine physician, professor and associate dean at the School of Medicine Greenville and an expert in sex and gender.
March 03, 2026, Gregory Hardy
University of South Carolina researchers can share their scholarship with national and global audiences through The Conversation, a nonprofit news outlet that pairs scholars with professional editors and syndicates stories worldwide. Learn how to get involved when their representatives visit campus March 25–26.
February 24, 2026, Gregory Hardy
Skiing can be both a thrill and a full-brain workout. USC exercise science chair Shawn Arent explains how downhill skiing sharpens cognition, why concussion risks are higher than many people realize and simple steps that can protect your brain before you hit the slopes.
February 19, 2026, Page Ivey
Longer lifespans mean more diagnoses of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Researchers at USC’s College of Pharmacy are combining their expertise in data science, artificial intelligence and pharmacology to identify potential connections between existing treatments for chronic illnesses and neurocognitive disease.
February 18, 2026, Megan Sexton
When a pediatrician told researcher Elizabeth Adams about the barriers patients faced while trying to access food, it sparked an idea. Now, Adams is leading a pilot study to test strategies for making healthy foods more accessible.
February 17, 2026, Hadley McCollester
Batteries are part of our everyday lives, but not many of us think about how they work or what they are made of. For researchers at the Lab for Materials Properties and Structures, these questions are a full time job. Golareh Jalilvand and her team at USC's Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing are dedicated to testing alternative battery materials such as lithium iron phosphate that will help make batteries a part of the country's sustainable future. This documentary explains why for batteries, it's what's inside that counts.
February 16, 2026, Laura Erskine
On average, rural residents live farther away from hospitals compared to urban residents. Cassie Lewis Odahowski, assistant professor of public health, says those longer distances can lead to worse health outcomes. As a researcher for the Arnold School’s Rural Health Research Center, Odahowski studies access-to-care issues for rural communities using an advanced mapping tool available at USC.
February 09, 2026, Megan Sexton
From faculty members inventing new tools to help students learn the intricacies of treating heart defects in infants to opening up pathways to nursing careers for people with disabilities, the University of South Carolina College of Nursing is stepping up every day.
February 06, 2026, Rebekah Friedman
Strongyloides stercoralis is an intestinal parasite rarely seen in the U.S. University of South Carolina researchers Dr. Melissa Nolan and Dr. Matthew Haldeman wondered if these worms might still be lingering under the radar in South Carolina. What they found surprised them.
February 05, 2026, Craig Brandhorst
Students in instructor Renée McManus’ photojournalism course test their skills and capture the thrills at the South Carolina State Fair.
February 05, 2026, Chris Horn
With a career quickly approaching the 50-year mark, Jim Augustine has taught the vast majority of physicians who have graduated from USC’s School of Medicine in Columbia. Even after retiring from full-time service a few years ago, he continues to teach.
February 04, 2026, Conor Harrison
The government directed data centers to turn on backup generation in parts of the U.S. Conor Harrison, an associate professor of geography in the School of Earth, Ocean and Environment, co-authors this story for The Conversation on how expanding distributed generation could improve grid resilience.
February 03, 2026, Marlena Crovatt-Bagwell and Brandon Pugh
Bassoon professor Michael Harley and his new-music ensemble Alarm Will Sound snared top honors in Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for Land of Winter, a collaborative piece that was also nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Harley's nomination and another for fellow professor Mak Grgic were the latest of several Grammy nominations for musicians with USC connections.
February 01, 2026, Gregory Hardy
February is American Heart Month. The University of South Carolina is home to many faculty members who are available to offer their expertise in cardio care and research.
January 27, 2026, Collyn Taylor
The University of South Carolina has earned 2026 Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement and is one of less than 100 public institutions nationally with Carnegie designations in community engagement and as an R1 research institution.
January 26, 2026
The College of Nursing continues to drive transformation in nursing education, innovation and health care delivery across the state and beyond. At the heart of this momentum is the launch of South Carolina’s only accredited nurse-midwifery education program
January 26, 2026, Hadley McCollester
The Civil Rights movement in South Carolina has long been overlooked and overshadowed. The Center for Civil Rights History and Research has spent the last decade working to document and bring awareness and scholarship to South Carolina's role in the movement. In this documentary, Bobby Donaldson, executive director of the center, takes us through the amazing work done over the past 10 years and what is on the horizon.
January 22, 2026, Rebekah Friedman
Fabio Matta’s next-generation building materials include fiber-reinforced plastic bars — essentially, glass fibers immersed in a strong polymeric resin. They are stronger than steel, don’t corrode and are lighter than traditional materials — all qualities that make them ideal for bridge and infrastructure rehabilitation.
January 21, 2026, Chris Horn
A group of University of South Carolina students has planned and organized TEDxCongaree Vista, featuring speakers whose topics are likely to spark conversation and inspire action.
January 14, 2026, Catherine Pruitt
For 20 years, The Carolina Agency has been the student-run public relations and media agency giving College of Information and Communications students real-world experience in a professional setting. In addition to offering students an internship credit and an authentic work experience in a professional setting, The Carolina Agency also prides itself on its service to community clients.
January 13, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen
The University of South Carolina has recognized students, faculty and staff members for their work on campus and in the larger community with 2026 Martin Luther King Social Justice Awards. The awards recognize individuals who have exemplified the philosophies of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through acts of community service, social justice or racial reconciliation.
January 08, 2026, Bryan Gentry
A new grant from the National Institutes of Health will help USC faculty study fragile X-associated health conditions, which may affect thousands of people in South Carolina, and identify new ways to diagnose and treat the conditions.