Press Releases

Icon of how an artificial intelligence brain connects to concepts of technology, transportation, vision, the brain, ideas and health care.

2024 artificial intelligence faculty experts list

April 03, 2024, 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.

Gates to Horseshoe of USC campus

2024 Autism Acceptance Month: USC faculty experts list

March 28, 2024, Gregory Hardy

April is Autism Acceptance Month. The CDC estimates that 1 out of every 36 eight-year-olds is affected by autism, a lifelong developmental disorder. As South Carolina’s leader in health sciences, USC has researchers across disciplines who specialize in autism.

A robot hand pushes a red button.

USC researcher leads group studying ethics, safety and impact of AI

February 23, 2024, Kathryn McPhail

Shannon Bowen, a professor in the University of South Carolina’s College of Information and Communications, researches ethical decision making and AI within organizations, heads the AI-Ethics Advisory Board and conducts ethics training with leaders of organizations to help them avoid and solve problems and develop strategic communications plans.

Matt White conducts an ensemble

Matt White's approach for "Lowcountry" has him headed to Spoleto

January 26, 2024, Thom Harman

From a new program home to new music to continued research, Matt White, Jazz Studies Program chair, is rather busy. His novel approach to a 2023 release, “Lowcountry” — incorporating Gullah histories and stories with contemporary jazz — has earned White and his collaborators a chance to perform the piece during the 2024 Spoleto Festival.

Maxcy building

New initiatives expand USC's first-gen support

January 22, 2024, Hannah Cambre

The University of South Carolina is committing to providing more comprehensive support to its first-generation student population, including a First-Generation Center launching in August 2024, a living and learning community for first-gen students, and an expanding partnership with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

Tick in test tube

New institute puts USC on map for vector-borne illness research

October 16, 2023, Hannah Cambre

The Institute of Infectious Disease Translational Research will allow public health researcher Melissa Nolan to operate complementary studies at labs based in Columbia, El Salvador and Brazil, putting USC on the map as an international hub for maternal and infant health research.

An illustration of hand holding a lightning rod.

USC researchers advancing transition to a new energy landscape

January 12, 2023, Megan Sexton

From policy-making surrounding cleaner energy technologies to researching better ways to make and store electricity to studying advanced nuclear materials for interplanetary space travel, University of South Carolina researchers are advancing the transition to a changing energy landscape.

portrait of Kirstin Dow

Geography professor maps heat islands as we adapt to climate change

November 16, 2022, Craig Brandhorst

Longtime University of South Carolina geography professor Kirstin Dow has devoted much of her career to understanding climate impact, vulnerability and adaptation. In other words, she recognizes the problems posed by our warming planet and is determined to help mitigate them, most recently by mapping heat islands so that urban planners can make better decisions about where to plant trees, generate more shade or support investment in affordable renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Eugenia Broude smiles while meeting with other faculty members.

Pharmacy researcher driven to find weapons in the fight against cancer

October 12, 2022, Margaret Gregory

College of Pharmacy professor Eugenia Broude had personal inspiration to pursue a career in science, and a newly awarded $3 million R01 grant from the National Cancer Institute will allow Broude and her co-investigators to continue their work in a groundbreaking area of breast cancer research.

VPR Julius Fridriksson

New vice president for research aims to mentor junior faculty

October 03, 2022, Craig Brandhorst

Julius Fridriksson loves a challenge. After climbing to the top of his field — and building out a research team of more than 40 faculty, post docs and graduate students at the Arnold School of Public Health — the onetime first-generation college student from a small village in Iceland agreed to become USC’s interim vice president for research in 2021.

Booker T. Washington alumni look at display

New agreement with National Park Service advances UofSC's role in telling civil rights history

September 28, 2022, Alexis Watts

Under a five-year agreement with the National Park Service, the center will receive $3.4 million to expand the center’s existing work in civil rights education and scholarly research, including support for exhibits and programming at South Carolina sites in the African American Civil Rights Network. The center will help to grow the network in South Carolina by serving as a resource to property owners, community leaders and organizations interested in joining the network.

brick exterior of Booker T. Washington High School in Columbia, South Carolina

Grant advances UofSC's efforts to create destination for preserving, teaching civil rights history

June 20, 2022, Carol J.G. Ward

The University of South Carolina’s Center for Civil Rights History and Research will receive $500,000 in federal funding to further its mission to preserve civil rights history and tell critical stories of the movement. The African American Civil Rights grant administered by the National Park Service will be used to continue rehabilitation and preservation of the historic Booker T. Washington Auditorium Building.

Letters in air mail envelopes from Otto Frank to Cara Wilson-Granat spread on a table.

Letters from Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank, donated to UofSC Anne Frank Center

June 08, 2022, Alexis Watts

The Anne Frank Center located at the University of South Carolina is now home to 100 letters and cards written by Otto Frank, the father of Holocaust victim and world-renowned diarist Anne Frank. The donation comes as the world honors her life and legacy on the 75th anniversary of the publication of her diary and her birthday on June 12.

David Cutler in steampunk style

Music professor gets creative in managing change

April 05, 2022, Dan Cook

When you think of change management, you might think of the Harvard Business Review or McKinsey’s global consultants. You probably don’t think about musicians. But in David Cutler’s new book, the distinguished professor of entrepreneurship and innovation in the School of Music takes lessons that began in the arts and translates them into a broad-based way of thinking about change in any other facet of life.

Thomas Crocker smiling

Constitutional law scholar discusses his new book on presidential powers

October 18, 2021, Craig Brandhorst

Law professor Thomas Crocker specializes in constitutional law, criminal procedure, free speech and democracy, national security and the Constitution. His new book, "Overcoming Necessity: Emergency, Constraint, and the Meanings of American Constitutionalism" (Yale University Press) is an analysis of how the concept of necessity, in conflict with constitutional commitments, creates dynamic challenges to constitutional governance, especially during times of emergency.

UofSC faculty experts list on the Summer Olympics

June 25, 2021, Tenell Felder

Japan will host the Summer Olympic Games July 23 to Aug. 8. Though the Olympics will be taking place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they will continue to be officially branded as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. To help journalists report on the Tokyo games, the University of South Carolina has compiled a list of faculty experts.

Technicians in a lab wearing gloves and safety goggles.

University of South Carolina to help lead Savannah River National Laboratory research innovation and workforce development

February 10, 2021

The University of South Carolina and the Battelle Savannah River Alliance are partnering to conduct critical research at one of the country’s premier national laboratories – the Savannah River National Laboratory. The partnership will contribute to workforce development and provide cutting-edge advancements in national security, energy and environmental research.

UofSC, Siemens expand partnership to include product demonstrations, new research projects, workforce development

December 01, 2020, Jeff Stensland

Siemens Digital Industries Software and the University of South Carolina are expanding their partnership by adding new software, collaborating on research for innovative manufacturing solutions, and by adding Siemens’ product demonstrations in the 15,000-square-foot Digital Transformation Lab at the McNAIR Aerospace Center.

Overlooking the fountain outside Thomas Cooper Library looking at the smokestack near the Horseshoe

UofSC among top universities granted U.S. utility patents

July 08, 2020, Communications and Public Affairs

For the eighth-consecutive year, the University of South Carolina stands among the top 100 universities in the world, based on the number of U.S. utility patents faculty members received in 2019. South Carolina ranks 90th worldwide, named as the lead on 31 patents last year.

plasma donation

COVID-19 response: UofSC partners with The Blood Connection to collect plasma donations from recovered patients

May 11, 2020

A national study sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Mayo Clinic is examining the use of plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients, known as convalescent plasma, to treat patients who are currently suffering from the virus. Physicians hope the antibodies in the donor plasma will neutralize the virus in these ill patients and improve outcomes.

protester holds sign calling to close the border

COVID-19 impact: Language differences spark fear amid pandemic

May 08, 2020, Stanley Dubinsky, Kaitlyn E. Smith, Michael Gavin

As the coronavirus spreads around the globe, it can cause a fear of others, especially strangers, who may or may not have taken proper precautions against spreading the disease. This fear can cause people to be on heightened alert for anyone who might be different. English professors Stanley Dubinsky, Michael Gavin and doctoral student Kaitlyn Smith write for The Conversation about how language differences can contribute to discrimination.

graphic with multicolored lines to show spread of COVID-19

COVID-19 impact: Coronavirus genome allows epidemiologists to track where it's been

April 27, 2020, Bert Ely and Taylor Carter

Following the coronavirus’s spread through the population – and anticipating its next move – is an important part of the public health response to the new disease. Biological sciences professor Bert Ely and doctoral student Taylor Carter write for The Conversation on how the virus's genetic sequence provides insight into where the virus has been.

Yellow lightbulb icon

Nephron, UofSC researchers improving medication safety through automation

August 23, 2019, Jeff Stensland

Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation has joined forces with the University of South Carolina College of Engineering and Computing to design and implement an automation process that significantly boosts production of pre-filled medication, reducing the physical burden on workers and increasing patient safety.

Katy Pilarzyk in the lab

Brain Power

May 23, 2019, Alyssa Yancey

Second-year Ph.D. candidate Katy Pilarzyk was one of three University of South Carolina students awarded a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship this year. She will use her funding to continue her work in Michy Kelly’s lab at the School of Medicine Columbia. The lab studies the inner workings of the brain to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying social and cognitive deficits.

Sport management students interning at Williams-Brice

UofSC tops U.S. in sport science for third straight year

October 19, 2018, Allen Wallace

The University of South Carolina’s sport science programs are making an impact around the world, and the success has earned global recognition. The programs are ranked No. 1 in the United States for the third consecutive year in the Global Ranking of Sport Science Schools and Departments.

cancer research

Heating up cancer treatment research

July 12, 2018, Annika Dahlgren

Researchers with the College of Engineering and Computing have created a new way to destroy cancer cells in two days. The research team — made up of electrical engineering professor Seongtae Bae, postdoc fellow Jung-tak Jang and undergrad (Eric) Sang Hoon Ju — uses a nanomaterial and an alternating current (AC) magnetic field generator to super heat the cells.

richard riley

UofSC opens Richard W. Riley Collection as part of S.C. Political Collections

July 11, 2018, Peggy Binette

The South Carolina Political Collections — one of the largest political collections in the nation — will expand Monday, Aug. 6 when the University of South Carolina opens the Richard W. Riley Collection. The collection details the life and public career of Richard Wilson “Dick” Riley, a former South Carolina state representative, senator and governor and U.S. Secretary of Education.

Psychology professor Mark Weist

Alliance for change

June 18, 2018, Mary-Kathryn Craft

Psychology professor Mark Weist is leading efforts to improve behavioral health in public schools across the Palmetto State. He and his team recently received a grant from the South Carolina Department of Education to launch the S.C. School Behavioral Health Alliance, an interdisciplinary initiative to prevent and treat emotional and behavioral concerns.

Collaborative project using new data to combat childhood obesity in SC

May 22, 2018, John Brunelli

A statewide effort to evaluate and improve health-related fitness among public school students is part of a partnership of the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the South Carolina Department of Education and the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health.

South Carolina Sunset

Building a healthier South Carolina

April 20, 2018, Alyssa Yancey

The staff of the SC Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare at the USC School of Medicine is working to improve access to care in rural South Carolina. Created with state funding in 2017, the center has a number of initiatives underway, including a loan program to encourage health profession students to practice in rural settings, research grant programs and partnerships helping put providers on the ground in critical need areas.

Exercise science in action

No. 1! UofSC sport science programs top national rankings

December 20, 2017, Allen Wallace

The University of South Carolina’s sport science programs are ranked No. 1 in the United States for the second year in a row, and No. 4 in the world by ShanghaiRanking's 2017 Global Ranking of Sport Science Schools and Departments.

continental tire

Continental establishes endowed chair at UofSC

December 11, 2017, Peggy Binette

The University of South Carolina announced a new endowed chair position at the Darla Moore School of Business Monday (Dec. 11). The endowed chair will be funded by a $2 million grant. University President Harris Pastides announced the Continental Endowed Chair in Global Supply Chain Management and Management Science during the Fall 2017 Industry Summit of the Operations and Supply Chain Center.

The future of retailing

It's about to get personal

November 27, 2017, Allen Wallace

Imagine going shopping and having your phone or fitness tracker make product recommendations for you based on your breath or the current physical state of your body. It is not science fiction. It’s the future of retailing and health care digitization according to researchers at University of South Carolina’s College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management.

Kathleen Parker

Washington Post columnist gives personal archive to UofSC

November 20, 2017, Peggy Binette

Students and scholars will have a richer understanding of contemporary politics and culture thanks to Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker. The 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner who lives in Camden, South Carolina, and writes the nation’s most widely syndicated column, has given her personal archive to the University of South Carolina Libraries’ South Carolina Political Collections.

UofSC faculty experts list on the opioid epidemic

August 17, 2017, Peggy Binette

The United States is battling an opioid epidemic. Americans now consume most of the world’s supply of opioids, with drug overdose being the leading cause of death for Americans under age 50. To help journalists to report on this public health crisis, the University of South Carolina has compiled a list of faculty experts.

2017 total solar eclipse: UofSC faculty experts

June 20, 2017, Mary-Kathryn Craft

A total eclipse of the sun will cross the continental United States on Aug. 21 for the first time in almost 100 years. Faculty at the University of South Carolina are available to discuss a variety of aspects of this highly-anticipated event.

USMC Film Repository's new home opens

May 26, 2017, John Brunelli

University President Harris Pastides and Thomas McNally, dean of University Libraries dedicate the John S. Davis Scanning Center and the Lt. Col. James H. Davis Film Vault at the Libraries' Moving Image Research Collections. The MIRC facility is the new home of the U.S. Marine Corps Film Repository that chronicles the corps from the 1940s to the 1970s.

arnold school treadmill

Arnold School of Public Health to expand to Greenville

March 24, 2017, Jeff Stensland

The University of South Carolina’s nationally-renowned Arnold School of Public Health will open a satellite program in Greenville focused on research and education that tackles some of South Carolina’s most pressing health needs. The expansion will allow students to receive graduate-level education at the intersection of public health and clinical medicine and conduct cutting-edge research into solutions to public health problems.

clovis extinction

UofSC discovery of widespread platinum may help solve Clovis people mystery

March 08, 2017, Peggy Binette

No one knows for certain why the Clovis people and iconic beasts -- mastodon, mammoth and saber-toothed tiger – living some 12,800 years ago suddenly disappeared. However, a discovery of widespread platinum at archaeological sites across the United States by three University of South Carolina archaeologists has provided an important clue in solving this enduring mystery. The research findings are outlined in a new study released Thursday (March 9) in Scientific Reports, a publication of Nature.

Doug woodward

UofSC economists: 2017 SC economy strong and stable amid political uncertainty

December 07, 2016, Peggy Binette

Steady economic gains are expected for South Carolina in 2017 despite the political uncertainty that comes with new governor and U.S. president. The gains build on positive growth across most of the Palmetto State’s industries and regions, according to University of South Carolina economists at the Darla Moore School of Business.

UofSC, IBM open Center for Innovation; announce new collaboration

April 14, 2016, Jeff Stensland

The University of South Carolina and IBM announced a broadening of their collaboration, applying cognitive capabilities and the Internet of Things (IoT) to develop new solutions for predictive analytics and maintenance. On Thursday the two organizations are hosted the grand opening of the $25 million Center for Applied Innovation, where university, IBM and private sector researchers—including Fluor Corporation—will use the technology for a host of real-world applications.

Stroke researcher earns $11 million NIH grant

March 23, 2016, Megan Sexton

University of South Carolina professor Julius Fridriksson has been awarded an $11.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research stroke recovery and work to improve the lives and communication skills of patients after they suffer strokes. Fridriksson, a professor in the Arnold School of Public Health, studies how a person’s brain recovers from a stroke.

UofSC faculty experts: 2016 South Carolina primaries and presidential election

February 05, 2016, Peggy Binette

With the New Hampshire primary just days away, all eyes will turn to South Carolina, site of the first-in-the-South presidential primaries on Saturday, Feb. 20 and Feb. 27. The University of South Carolina’s Office of Public Relations has compiled a list of faculty experts who can discuss topics relevant to the South Carolina primaries and the presidential election.

UofSC economists: South Carolina on solid footing for 2016

December 01, 2015, Peggy Binette

Even historic flooding in 2015 couldn’t wash away South Carolina’s highest rate of growth in the last six years – a level of growth that University of South Carolina economists at the Darla Moore School of Business say will persist in 2016. Doug Woodward and Joseph Von Nessen, economists in the Moore School Division of Research, will present their full economic forecast at the upcoming 35th Annual Economic Outlook Conference (EOC) Thursday, Dec. 17.