The Office of the Vice President for Research is pleased to announce the 2025 RISE and Excel funding recipients.
The Research Initiative for Summer Engagement (RISE) Program is an internal grant program through which faculty members at USC’s system campuses
have the opportunity to compete for funding to support research and scholarly projects
conducted during the summer months. Funds are offered through the Office of the Vice
President for Research, with generous support from the chancellors at the four-year
system campuses: USC Aiken, USC Beaufort and USC Upstate. This year, RISE will support
25 scholarly projects by faculty working on USC’s system campuses. Congratulations to the 2025 class of RISE grant recipients!
2025 Palmetto College Campus RISE Recipients
| Sher Chhetri | Sumter |
| Chris Defossez | Sumter |
| Tania Hazra | Sumter |
| Shelley Jones | Palmetto Campus-Columbia |
| Dana Lawrence | Lancaster |
| Brittany Taylor | Lancaster |
2025 Comprehensive Institution RISE Recipients
| Warren Bareiss | Upstate |
| Kimberly Cavanagh | Beaufort |
| Katie Chargualaf | Aiken |
| Edward D'Antonio | Beaufort |
| Daniel Davis | Upstate |
| Ona Egbue | Upstate |
| Tina Herzberg | Upstate |
| Stefanie Keen | Upstate |
| Ramon Lopez | Upstate |
| Matthew Miller | Aiken |
| Thanh Nguyen | Upstate |
| Matthew Placek | Upstate |
| Murray Skees | Beaufort |
| Patrick Saracino | Upstate |
| Nolan Stolz | Upstate |
| Justin Travis | Upstate |
| Julie Wade | Upstate |
| Xudong Zhang | Upstate |
| Wei Zhong | Upstate |
The Excel Funding Program was founded in 2022 to help faculty in liberal arts, humanities and social sciences
pursue top-quality research, scholarly and creative projects. By providing seed funding
to faculty in these fields, Excel also aims to bolster their competitive edge in applying
for subsequent external funding. This year, Excel will support scholarly projects
by 25 faculty from 13 departments. Please join us in congratulating the 2025 Excel funding recipients!
2025 Excel Recipients
| Samuel Amadon | English Language and Literature | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Connor Austell | Music | USC Lancaster |
| Marybeth Berry | Theatre | USC Lancaster |
| Alexandria Carrico | Music | School of Music |
| Jonathan (Austin) Crane | Geography & Walker Institute of International and Area Studies | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Chelsea Fisher | Anthropology | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Edward Gieskes | English Language and Literature | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Kurt Goblirsch | Languages, Literatures and Cultures | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Veronica Gonzalez | Criminology and Criminal Justice | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Sabrina Habib | Journalism and Mass Communications | College of Information and Communications |
| Michael Harley | Music | School of Music |
| Seihill Kim | Journalism and Mass Communications | College of Information and Communications |
| Andrew Kunka | English | USC Sumter |
| Serena LaRoche | Music | School of Music |
| Sang Min Lee | Economics | Darla Moore School of Business |
| Thomas Lekan | History | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Franklin (Evan) Nooe | History | USC Lancaster |
| Armen Shaomian | Sport and Entertainment Management | College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management |
| Jonah Steinberg | Anthropology | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Greg Stuart | Music | School of Music |
| Mila Tasseva-Kurktchieva | Linguistics | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| William Terwilliger | Music | School of Music |
| Cuizhen (Susan) Wang | Geography | McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Yang Wang | Teacher Education | College of Education |
| Viviana Zambrano Rodriguez | Journalism and Mass Communications | College of Information and Communications |
27 March 2025