The Distance Education Network of the USC Viterbi School, the leading provider of distance graduate education in engineering among research universities, has a new executive director and new USC organizational status.
Binh Tran
Binh Tran, has stepped into the leadership of the operation, which in May granted a record 272 masters degrees in numerous engineering fields to students living as far away as Nutley, New Jersey.
He succeeds Kelly Goulis, who has become Associate Dean for Master's and Professional Programs in the Viterbi School, and to whom he will report.
Tran's promotion was part of a reorganization announced in September by Dean Yannis Yortsos, which created a new office of Master’s and Professional Programs (MAPP) in which DEN is now a part, which assumed the responsibility of recruitment and student services of all Master’s students (DEN and On-campus), e-learning operations and the management and development of all life-long and continuing education programs.
Tran was until his promotion DEN’s Instructional Technology Director where he supervised all operations and faculty support responsibilities for DEN courses. He has more than 10 years of experience in implementing and supporting instructional technology services.
He has been instrumental in developing DEN’s online delivery system and has taken a major role in providing consulting and training services to the USC’s recent Technology Enhanced Learning initiative.
Tran received his M.S. in Instructional Technology at the USC Rossier School of Education. He has also supported complex computing environments and taught various multimedia courses in the Information Technology Program at the Viterbi School.
Tran's move was accompanied by shifts by other DEN personnel to parallel responsibilities in MAPP. These included Carolyn Suckow, who became MAPP Director of Student Affairs, Jackie Williams, who became MAPP Director of Recruitment and Marketing, and Susanna Sahakian, who became MAPP Department Business Administrator.
