Viterbi Faculty Directory

Biography

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Elisabeth Arnold Weiss teaches upper division Advanced Writing and Communication for Engineers and has taught the communication courses for Ph.D. students, overseas program, and Freshman Academies. She also teaches in the Viterbi Aviation Safety and Security Program and the cross-cultural and global community building components of Viterbi’s global innovation course.

She is the recipient of the 2019 Viterbi Dean’s Award for Innovation in Teaching and Education and the USC General Education Writing Award in 2022. She is currently a Fellow with Virtues & Vocations, a national forum reimagining character education in the professions, sponsored by the Kern Family Foundation and a grant recipient from the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest University, sponsored by the Lily Endowment. She founded TEAM, Athletes Mindset for Engineers, to promote human excellence across physical and mental domains through character development.

Elisabeth leads the Improv for Engineers co-curricular partnership with the USC School of Dramatic Arts, to infuse theater arts techniques into engineering communication. She served as P.I. on the trans disciplinary grant project Improv for Engineers Master Class in VR, sponsored by the Engineering Information Foundation, and continues to develop immersive educational experiences through the creation of the ViterbiVerse and as part of Connected Futures, a USC coalition innovating an ethical and prosocial future of XR.

Elisabeth has formed long-standing outreach partnerships with The Accelerated Schools and AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles and built ATLAS, a community engaged learning project focused on social impact, sustainability, and societal readiness. She is a frequent faculty contributor to Viterbi K-12 STEM Center programs.

With a robust mentorship track record spanning two decades, Elisabeth mentors start up teams in the USC and Viterbi entrepreneurial ecosystem, student organizations, and alumni to accelerate pathways to professional purpose and leadership. She founded the DREAM Industry Mentorship speaker series and “A Board of Trustees for every Student” to provide mentorship at scale, and received a USC Mentoring Award in 2024.

She has served on the ASEE-PSW Executive Board since 2019, and currently as Chair. She has served as the Associate Director of Partnership and Outreach for the Viterbi iPodia Program since 2021. She serves on the faculty advisory board of Women in Engineering and the John Brooks Slaughter Center for Engineering Diversity.

Elisabeth has been teaching in the Viterbi School since 1999 and was previously an instructor at Harvey Mudd College. She holds degrees from the University of Virginia and Claremont Graduate University.