Shrikanth Narayanan was recognized for his success in engaging faculty and staff concerning issues of contracts and grant processes with a 2010 Distinguished Faculty Service Award, one of the highest honors bestowed upon USC faculty.

Doug Shook of the Marshall School was the other 2010 honoree.

Shrikanth Narayanan (Jon Vidar photo)

Narayanan's award grew out of his work on the joint Senate-Provost University Research Committee. He served on the committee for five years, including three as chair.

Under Narayanan’s leadership, the university initiated a number of significant events, including several research retreats, one of which incorporated novel approaches to collaboration within academia.

The award also recognizes Narayanan’s outstanding mentorship of both faculty and students. He served as president of Phi Kappa Phi, an academic honor society, for the 2007-08 academic year.

“I am truly honored by this recognition from my colleagues across the university for something that I love doing,” said Narayanan, the Andrew J. Viterbi Professor of Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. He holds appointments in electrical engineering, computer science, linguistics and psychology.

Viterbi Dean Yannis C. Yortsos praised Narayanan’s dedication and innovative approach to teamwork.

“Year after year, Shri has provided mechanisms for more fruitful collaborations between not only faculty and staff, but also between USC and other universities,” Yortsos said. “The honor is very well-deserved, and we’re proud of his accomplishments.”

Shook, associate dean, chief information officer and professor of clinical information and operations management at the USC Marshall School of Business, was recognized for “breadth of reach and depth in sharing technology” and his “no one left behind” philosophy to servicing the university.

“It is humbling and an honor,” he said. “There are a lot of very worthy people out there.”

The Distinguished Faculty Service Award, presented every year since 1998, is determined by an Academic Senate task force, which reviews nominations from throughout USC. This is the first year since 2003 that only two faculty members were honored. The pair received their awards at a May 12 ceremony.