Villaraigosa chooses USC: to be professor in Price School

Former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was known to be looking for a university post (or posts) on which to hang his new post-mayor hat. He already had a temp gig lined up at Harvard's Institute of Politics. Now USC has announced that Villaraigosa will become professor of the practice of policy in the USC Price School of Public Policy. He will work on "innovative, large-scale approaches to the significant policy issues facing California," the school says.

Jack H. Knott, dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy, said: “Throughout his tenure as mayor of the city of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa made significant progress in policy areas that are critically important to the USC Price School, including transportation and infrastructure development, public safety, port security and the environment. His wide range of knowledge and hands-on experience in these areas and others, including education and governance, will serve as a great asset to the USC Price School’s ongoing work and research.”

The title of professor of the practice is reserved for faculty appointments of individuals who have made significant contributions in the public practice of their field of expertise. Villaraigosa’s policy achievements as mayor included the expansion and reform of the Los Angeles Police Department, major improvements in public transportation, and the introduction of green technologies to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Mayor Villaraigosa said: "The Price School is one of the nation's leading policy schools, with particular strengths in my own policy interests, such as transportation and infrastructure development. I am excited about working with the school to propose solutions to some of the state's and nation's critical policy challenges."

One of Villaraigosa’s first projects will be to lead the newly-formed USC Villaraigosa Initiative for Restoring the California Dream, an initiative that will point to “important ways forward” through forums and reports on major policy issues and the functioning of state government, including public-private partnerships and social innovation, Knott said.

Villaraigosa will collaborate with the USC Price School’s nationally recognized research centers, including the METRANS Transportation Center – which recently received an additional $10.5 million in state and federal grants – and the Judith and John Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise.

He also will lecture in graduate and undergraduate courses in subjects ranging from sustainable planning to public sector executive management.

Villaraigosa also signed on this month to advise Edelman PR and has recently taken gigs to advise Herbalife and Banc of California.