Mahta Moghaddam Appointed Vice Dean of Research for USC Viterbi

Professor Mahta Moghaddam has been appointed Vice Dean of Research for the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Professor Moghaddam, who is the USC Center for Sustainability Solutions’ Director of Research and a USC Distinguished Professor, is the inaugural holder of the Ming Hsieh Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“In her new role, Mahta will help advance the research mission of the school along all its dimensions,” Yannis Yortsos, Dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering said in an announcement.  “In that capacity, she will also be part of the USC research leadership through her participation in the Vice President of Research Vice Deans Council,”

“Her research is in the broad area of applied electromagnetics, with multipronged theoretical, computational, and experimental approaches to solving complex sensing problems that include remote sensing of the Earth and planetary environments,” he continued. “A particular focus of her research is on characterization and monitoring of water resources. She has also transformed concepts of radar remote sensing to medical imaging, therapy, and monitoring systems.”

Professor Moghaddam is a member of the USC President Carol L. Folt’s Presidential Working Group on Sustainability and the Chair of the group’s Research Committee. She is also a Fellow of IEEE and a Member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Prior to joining USC, Professor Modgaddam was on the faculty of the University of Michigan (2003-2011) and on the scientific staff of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, 1991-2003). She received a B.S. degree in 1986 from the University of Kansas with highest distinction, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 1989 and 1991, respectively, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, all in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Professor Modgaddam has received numerous awards including the 2016 NASA Honor Award Outstanding Public Leadership Medal for “Outstanding Leadership in Advancement of Microwave Remote Sensing.”