USC will launch a nationwide search for a new dean of its Moore School of Business to replace current dean Joel A. Smith, who announced Sept. 19 that he plans to retire in 2008.

Smith, dean of the Moore School since 2000, said he was announcing his retirement now to give the University adequate time to name his replacement in 2007 and to avoid disrupting momentum and fund-raising efforts at the Moore School.

"I am very pleased that, with the University's cooperation, I will be able to meet two objectives that are important to me: that I will be able to retire in 2008 and that I will be able to participate in an orderly transition of the school's leadership while continuing to play a major role in our fund-raising efforts," Smith said. "Achieving our fund-raising goal of matching Darla Moore's gift to us is important to me and is certainly important to our aspirations for the future of the Moore School."

In 2004, USC trustee and financier Darla Moore, for whom the school is named, announced a $45 million gift to the Moore School, which required the school to match that amount. The gift was Moore's second. In 1998, she announced a $25 million gift to the school.

President Sorensen praised Smith for his personal leadership and for his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition in leadership at the Moore School. "Joel Smith has provided tremendous leadership for our school of business," Sorensen said. "He has worked tirelessly over the past six years to see that the Moore School has maintained its special place of importance here at the University and in the state. I commend him for his personal commitment to ensuring that the Moore School experience a seamless leadership transition because that is critical to the University's commitment to excellence for our Moore School of Business."

Under Smith's leadership, the Moore School's international business programs have held their top spots in U.S. News & World Report rankings. Just last month, the undergraduate international business program was ranked No. 1 in the country, and last spring, the graduate international business program again was ranked No. 1 among public institutions in the United States.

Provost Becker said a search committee for the new dean is expected to be formed in the near future and reiterated the University's commitment to the Moore School.

"The Moore School, including its faculty, its programs, its students, and alumni, has long been a source of pride for the university," Becker said. "To guarantee its longstanding tradition of excellence, in which Dean Joel Smith has played a key role, the administration must continue its commitment to the goals that have made the Moore School nationally recognized  by business leaders and business school deans around the world."

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