Beong-Soo Kim, the former federal prosecutor who closed a $200 million structural deficit at the University of Southern California, was formally installed as the school's 13th president Friday, Oct. 16.

Kim, 53, stood before a crowd in Alumni Park and addressed his father, Eyo-Dae Kim, who sat facing the same library where he and Kim's late mother, Susan Kim, once studied together as international students with little money and no family in the United States, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"They certainly would never have imagined, as international students, that this day could possibly come," Kim said, according to the Times.

The ceremony capped a turbulent stretch for USC. Kim took over as interim president in July 2025 after Carol Folt's departure and immediately confronted a structural deficit exceeding $200 million. He maintained a hiring pause, stopped merit raises and approved the layoffs of more than 900 workers, the Times reported. The Daily Trojan put the total layoff figure at more than 1,000 since July 2025, including 65 employees at the Viterbi School of Engineering in September.

The pain appears to have paid off. Kim told the Times the university expects to "significantly exceed" the roughly $30 million surplus he forecast earlier this year, though final numbers are pending. Kim told the Daily Trojan that USC is no longer operating in a structural budget deficit but cautioned that every year brings its own challenges.

Kim was appointed permanent president in February after holding the interim role. He wasn't initially considered for the job, the Daily Trojan reported.

What's ahead

Kim said he wants USC to build stronger partnerships with Los Angeles industries, including entertainment, biotechnology, sports and what he called "the new space economy." He identified overhauling USC's general education requirements as a priority, aiming to prepare students with technical skills for the 21st century and to bring the university's 23 schools closer together.

A $200 million gift from Nvidia board member Mark Stevens and his wife, Mary Stevens, is fueling a university-wide push into artificial intelligence and recruiting AI researchers, according to the Times.

The university also faces pressure on multiple fronts. USC rejected a Trump administration higher-education compact in October 2025 that would have capped international undergraduates at 15%, required the SAT or ACT, and frozen tuition for five years. About 26% of USC students are international, with 15% of undergraduates coming from other nations.

Non-tenure-track faculty voted in June to join United Faculty-UAW, with about 70% in favor. USC has asked the National Labor Relations Board to review the decision that allowed the vote, arguing the proposed union is too broad. Faculty leafleted during Kim's installation ceremony.

The ceremony

Deans and faculty in academic regalia processed into Alumni Park as the Trojan Marching Band accompanied the national anthem. Temperatures climbed toward the 90s during the nearly two-hour event.

Kim, a cellist, joined USC Thornton School of Music students to play the first movement of Grieg's "Holberg Suite" while Kaufman School of Dance students performed. Suzanne Nora Johnson, chair of the Board of Trustees, formally installed Kim. Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and humanist blessings closed the ceremony.

In September, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression gave USC its top "green light" rating for several speech policies, moving the school from 198th to 37th out of 261 colleges in its free speech rankings.