The Board of Trustees unanimously voted late Wednesday night to elect USC executive vice president and provost C.L. Max Nikias to serve as the 11th president of USC.

USC Board of Trustees Chairman Edward P. Roski informed all faculty, staff and students via email early this morning. In the email, Roski described Nikias as “a remarkable and inspiring leader, a brilliant scholar, and the best possible person to lead our university forward.”

Nikias will take over for current president Steven B. Sample in August of this year.

In a press release by the university Nikias said, “it is the greatest honor to be given this opportunity by USC’s Board of Trustees to work toward realizing the dreams and aspirations of the Trojan Family.”

“This incredible, wide-ranging university represents an electric environment, one remarkably skilled at producing new ideas and new leaders to strengthen our society. Moving USC forward, and accelerating its breathtaking momentum, strikes me as the most rewarding endeavor in American higher education today.”

Roski said that there were 75 serious candidates that the presidential search advisory committee narrowed down to 7 finalists.

“Because of what he has already accomplished at USC, and his bold and exciting vision for the future, he was the unanimous choice of the search advisory committee,” Roski said.

As executive vice president and provost of the university, Nikias served as USC’s chief academic officer and was the second-ranking officer under the president. He has held that position since 2005. Nikias first came to the university in 1991 before serving as dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering from 2001 and 2005.

Tune in to ATVN tomorrow for complete coverage of the announcement at 6 p.m. on Trojan Vision 8 or catch the livestream at http://www.trojanvision.com