Beong-Soo Kim

Beong-Soo Kim (born 1972) is an American lawyer who has been the president of the University of Southern California (USC) since February 2026. He was USC's senior vice president and general counsel from July 2020 to June 2025 and interim president from July 2025 to February 2026.

Early life and education

Kim was born in Harbor City, California, and raised in Woodland Hills.

Kim attended Harvard College, where he wrote for The Harvard Crimson, led the Harvard CIVICS program, and played in the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. He graduated magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He subsequently earned an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics as a Rotary Scholar, and worked as a New York City Urban Fellow. He graduated from Harvard Law School with honors in 1999. After his clerkship, he taught constitutional interpretation as a teaching fellow at Harvard University and worked as an associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP. During his time as a prosecutor, Kim handled cases involving fraud and eventually became chief of the Major Frauds section. He returned to the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2022 to deliver a talk on Asian-American legacy-building.

Following his federal service, Kim worked as a partner at Jones Day before moving to Kaiser Permanente, where he spent nearly six years as vice president. As general counsel, he led several major strategic initiatives and advised the senior leadership team and Board of Trustees on matters affecting the University, Keck Medicine, and athletics. The appointment was announced by USC Board of Trustees Chair Suzanne Nora Johnson and Vice Chair David C. Bohnett, who praised Kim's "impeccable character, strong and collaborative leadership and a broad understanding of our academic research and medical enterprises, as well as our athletics programs." They are both amateur musicians. They have two children together.