BOARD OF COUNCILORS GAINS STRENGTH DEAN C.L. MAX NIKIAS HAS MADE EIGHT KEY ADDITIONS TO THE SCHOOL’S BOARD OF COUNCILORS. SONNY H. ASTANI (MS ISE ’78) is president of Astani Enterprises in Beverly Hills, the sole American franchise of the British company, Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH). LSH is the largest commercial real estate brokerage firm in Beverly Hills. Astani Enterprises, established in 1978, buys and manages commercial real estate and builds and restores commercial buildings, restaurants, offices and residential condominiums. Astani was born in Iran and came to USC to pursue his master’s degree. He started his career at Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, before changing his focus to property management, and founding Astani Enterprises. His wife Jo Cho and he have two children, a girl and a boy. YANG HO CHO, a USC trustee, is chairman and CEO of Korean Air. Cho is also chairman and CEO of Hanjin Information Systems and Telecommunications Company, Ltd. Cho received an MBA from USC in 1979, and has been on the USC Board of Trustees since 1997. (See “On The Road with Y.H. Cho” on page 16 for more information.) DR. ALICE P. GAST (BSc ChE ’80) is the vice president for research and associate provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to her administrative positions at MIT, Gast is MIT’s Robert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical Engineering. She coordinates policy regarding research and graduate education and oversees the Institute’s large inter-school laboratories. Gast, who joined the Stanford faculty in 1985 after earning her Ph.D. from Princeton University, is an expert on complex fluids and colloids. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the American Physical Society. THOMAS O. GEPHART (BSME ‘62) is founder and chairman of Ventana Global. Gephart has
led the successful global launch of five U.S. technology private equity funds, and Ventana has 70+ technology portfolio companies that have attracted over $3 billion in equity financing, including direct investments from Ventana’s 84 multinational investor-partners representing 20 countries.
billion capital improvement program. She serves on the National Academy of Science’s committee to review methods of analysis and peer review used by the Army Corps of Engineers. She also teaches graduate courses in Ecology and Environmental Compliance in the School’s Department of Civil Engineering.
Gephart founded Ventana in 1974. In 1982, Ventana’s Board decided upon a Global Charter for Ventana’s first Institutional Venture fund, which was established in 1984. As Ventana’s driving force, he has implemented the firm’s proactive investment style. He has served as chairman and director for both public and private companies, including APTA Group, Inc., Cellnet Corporation, Fidelica Microsystems, HemaCare Corporation, Infrasonics, Inc., Maxim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Medical Imaging Centers of America, Inc.; R2 Medical Systems, Inc.; SenDx Medical, Inc. and Tickets.com.
DR. ALEXIS LIVANOS is executive vice president of Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS), the world’s leading satellite manufacturer. In this position, Livanos is responsible for managing the execution of the BSS business plan, including Spectrolab, Inc., and Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices subsidiaries. Prior to joining BSS, Livanos was executive vice president of Operations at Loral Space and Communications and was responsible for engineering, manufacturing and programs. Before that, he spent 16 years in various, increasingly key positions at TRW, Inc. Livanos received his BS in mechanical engineering, his MS in engineering science, and his Phd in engineering science and physics from California Institute of Technology. He has applied for three patents, and published 18 technical papers in refereed journals. Livanos and his family live in Palos Verdes Estates, California.
KENNETH R. KLEIN (BS BME ’82) currently serves as chief operating officer and a board member of Mercury Interactive. Klein is responsible for Mercury Interactive’s worldwide operations, including sales, customer support, professional services, field marketing, and information technologies. During his nine-year tenure at Mercury Interactive, he has held several positions, including president of North American operations, vice president of North American sales, director of Western area sales and regional sales manager for the Southwest region. Prior to joining Mercury Interactive, Klein served in various roles at Interactive Development Environments, Daisy Systems, and Hughes Aircraft Company. In addition to his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, he has a BS in electrical engineering from USC. PROFESSOR GERALDINE KNATZ (MS ENV ‘77, PhD BS ’79) is the managing director of the Port of Long Beach, a post she assumed in 1999. She is responsible for the port’s $1.9
photo by Jim Zeitz
SUPERCOMPUTING A renowned trio of researchers and their large supercomputing group has relocated to the University of Southern California from Louisiana State University. Priya Vashishta, Rajiv Kalia and Aiichiro Nakano have received joint appointments in the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences and the USC School of Engineering. Kalia will be a professor of physics, Vashishta a professor of materials science, and Nakano an associate professor of computer science. Their research and teaching will be based in computer science, materials science, biomedical engineering, and the physics departments. “Anyone who cares about science at USC has to be excited about these appointments,”
JOHN MORK (BSME ’70) holds a BS degree in petroleum engineering from USC Engineering. Mork is founder, CEO and president of Energy Corporation of America (ECA). The company has made large investments in oil and gas exploration in New Zealand. The Energy Corporation of America Foundation, through which Mork has been a frequent supporter of USC, has interests that include education, health, youth services, and civic organizations, with a focus on curriculum development, employee matching gifts, matching/challenge support, program development, and scholarship funds. Mork’s daughter Alison is a current sophomore at the Marshall School of Business.
— by Gia Scafidi
says Dean C.L. Max Nikias. “Doctors Vashishta, Nakano, and Kalia head up one of the world’s leading research groups in advanced computational simulations. Such simulations are key to the interdisciplinary scientific focus of USC’s strategic plan.” USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Dean Joseph Aoun says theirs is “a specialty that cuts across all disciplines,” allowing USC to conduct simulations of highly complex systems ranging from earthquakes to computational biology. “Having them here enhances USC’s ability to attract and train undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows in important emerging fields,” says Aoun. The three scientists have collaborated since the 1980s, when they worked together at
Argonne National Laboratory, one of the government’s oldest and largest scientific and engineering research laboratories. “Any specialty on its own is always a great endeavor,” says Vashishta. “But when you group multiple continued on page 14 specialties, USC ENGINEER
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