COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina (USC) Board of Trustees approved the hiring of a new provost and vice president for research, Thursday, during a scheduled meeting.
Donna K. Arnett, Dean of the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Public Health, was named USC's provost and vice president for academic affairs. In her position at UK, since 2016, Arnett provided oversight for the college’s academic offerings, worked to expand extramural funding and conducted the college’s first comprehensive strategic plan.
As provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at USC, Arnett will oversee all of the schools and colleges on the Columbia research campus.
Arnett's resume includes the position of associate dean and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Alabama (Birmingham) and past president of the American Heart Association. During her career, she has published more than 700 peer-reviewed papers and two books, focusing her research on cardiovascular health. Arnett earned a nursing degree and a master's degree in epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of South Florida, and a doctorate in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Her first day at USC will be Aug. 1.
Meanwhile, Julius Fridriksson, a stroke and aphasia researcher with the Arnold School of Public Health, has been named vice president for research at the university. He has served as interim head of the Office for Research since July 2021 and is director of the NIH-funded Center for the Study of Aphasia Recovery, which conducts groundbreaking research to help stroke victims recover from brain damage.
Fridriksson joined USC in 2001 and is a SmartState Chair and Distinguished Health Sciences Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communicative disorders from the University of Central Florida, a master’s in speech-language pathology from Central Florida and a doctorate in speech and hearing sciences from the University of Arizona.
President-elect Michael Amiridis, who begins his tenure in July, said, “We are fortunate to have professionals of such high caliber to lead the university in its next chapter, and I look forward to working with each of them.”
