Sorensen�s selection capped a day of meetings with university and was the culmination of an 11-month search to name a successor to President John M. Palms. After the trustees� vote, Sorensen said he was honored to have been selected as USC�s president and is eager to come to campus and begin work.

"The University of South Carolina has a proud tradition of education, research and public service," Sorensen said. "Because of the vision and dedication of USC�s leaders, the achievements of faculty and the commitment of alumni and donors, the university is poised to become a truly outstanding national public university as it begins its third century. I am truly honored to have been selected to lead the university at this time, and I look forward to working with the university�s leaders, the Board of Trustees, alumni, the General Assembly, donors, faculty, staff and students in making the University of South Carolina one of the most respected public institutions in the nation."

USC Board Chairman Mack Whittle of Greenville said Sorensen�s background makes him an ideal leader for USC and for South Carolina. "Our search for a new president was long and diligent," Whittle said. "But in finding and recruiting Andrew Sorensen, we have the right person to lead Carolina to new levels of excellence. As we searched for a new president, we realized that we were not just choosing a new leader for the state's flagship university. We were also choosing someone who can help provide leadership for the entire state.

Whittle added, "Dr. Sorensen's education is superb. His background in the public health field is a perfect fit for South Carolina. His wealth of experience and accomplishments is exactly the type of determined leadership for which we have been searching. The Board of Trustees is confident that Andrew Sorensen is the person to realize our vision for the state�s flagship institution and to make Carolina a catalyst for our state�s knowledge-based economy."

Whittle also praised Palms for his accomplishments as USC�s president. "Carolina has made incredible progress in the last decade, thanks to the untiring efforts of John Palms," Whittle said. "He took over his duties during a time of great turmoil and, by example, allowed the university to reclaim its moral authority and credibility. Under his leadership, we have become a much better university. We have better students, better faculty, better facilities, better research, a respectable endowment, and teaching is again paramount at Carolina."

Sorensen, a noted public health scholar, has a solid background in public higher education. Before becoming UA�s president in 1996, he served for six years as the University of Florida�s chief academic officer, holding the title of provost and vice president for academic affairs. He previously served as executive director of the AIDS Institute at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and was a professor of health policy and management at The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

Sorensen is former director of the School of Public Health at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and, prior to that, was on the faculty at Lincoln University, the University of Rochester and Cornell University. He also has served as a visiting faculty member at the Harvard University School of Medicine and the University of Cambridge School of Medicine.

Sorensen has written or edited six books and written more than 100 articles. His work has centered on health policy and health services research and, most recently, on e-learning. He regularly teaches a course in epidemiology.

Sorensen holds a bachelor�s degree in ethics and master�s and doctoral degrees in medical sociology from Yale University. He also earned a bachelor�s degree in history from the University of Illinois and a master�s in public health from the University of Michigan.

Sorensen is president of the Southern University Conference Council of Presidents, past chair of the Southeastern Universities Research Association and a trustee of the Universities Research Association. He was appointed to the Education Advisory Committee by President Bush�s Transition Team and was appointed to the Secretary�s Council on Public Health Preparedness by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

Sorensen is a native of Pittsburgh, and he and his wife, Donna Ingemie, have two sons, Aaron and Ben. He succeeds John M. Palms, who is retiring after serving as USC�s president since March 15, 1991.

As president, Sorensen will oversee South Carolina�s most comprehensive research university, with a medical school, the state�s only law school and a student body of 23,000 on its Columbia campus. The University of South Carolina also has seven other locations, including two four-year campuses at Aiken and Spartanburg and five two-year campuses at Allendale, Beaufort, Lancaster, Sumter and Union.

In the past two years, USC has marked several milestones. In 2001, the university celebrated its bicentennial with public events, academic conferences and a resolution by the S.C. General Assembly recognizing the university for its service to the state. Also last year, research funding reached $123 million, another record level, and USC was cited by the National Science Foundation as one of the nation�s top 100 research universities in terms of spending on research and development.

Next month, USC plans to conclude its $500-million capital campaign, the largest in the university�s history and one that has included a $25-million gift to the business school and a $20-million scholarship endowment for out-of-state students, as well as a $10-million gift to the School of Public Health and 66 other gifts of at least $1 million.

USC is ranked in the second tier in U.S. News and World Report�s annual undergraduate college rankings, and its undergraduate international business program is ranked No. 1 in the magazine. The university�s graduate IB program was ranked No. 2 in the magazine�s April 15 issue, marking the 13th year that the program has been ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the country.

USC students routinely win of some of the nation's most prestigious graduate fellowships, and in recent years have won a Rhodes scholarship and a Marshall scholarship, as well as Goldwater, Truman and National Science Foundation awards.

(photos provided by USC)

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