Dr. John Brooks Slaughter, University Professor Emeritus of Education and Computer Engineering, was recently presented with the prestigious USC Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award by USC President Carol L. Folt.

Dr. Slaughter has had a remarkably distinguished and inspiring career, which began as an electrical engineer and includes leading two universities — University of Maryland as Chancellor and Occidental College as President — and heading the National Science Foundation (NSF) as its first African American director, among many other accomplishments. Dr. Slaughter joined the USC Rossier School of Education in January 2010 as Professor of Education, with a joint appointment at the Viterbi School of Engineering.

“This award is part of a series of well-deserved awards to Dr. Slaughter.  He has been a pioneer and trailblazer for equity in higher education,” noted Pullias Center Director Dr. Adrianna Kezar. “His impact has been astounding — at particular campuses, within whole state systems, across disciplines like engineering, within federal agencies, and national higher education associations. He is a true national treasure!”

Dr. Slaughter is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Hall of Fame of the American Society for Engineering Education. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and the Tau Beta Pi Honorary Engineering Society. He is the founding editor of the international journal, Computers & Electrical Engineering.

Slaughter holds honorary degrees from more than 25 institutions, and has received numerous awards, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Award in 1997; UCLA Medal of Excellence in 1989; the first U.S. Black Engineer of the Year award in 1987; the NAE Arthur M. Bueche Award in 2004; UCLA Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 1978; NSF Distinguished Service Award in 1979, among many others.

His education research has been in the areas of higher education leadership, diversity and inclusion in higher education, underrepresented minorities in STEM, and access and affordability. In his position at Rossier and Viterbi, Slaughter looked at the intersection between engineering and education, with a focus on what has become his lifelong quest of increasing minority participation in the science and engineering fields. Dr. Slaughter was presented with the USC Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award at the university’s 42nd Annual Academic Honors Convocation on April 11, 2023.

Photo by Greg Grudt