As a first-generation immigrant with a doctorate degree, Michael Amiridis understands firsthand the importance of postsecondary education.
He believes it is critical to help students from low socioeconomic backgrounds gain knowledge so they can get ahead — something that Andrew Carnegie understood deeply. “Carnegie said over 100 years ago that universities are ladders of social advancement,” said Amiridis, who began his term as president of the University of South Carolina on July 1. “We want to make sure that our ladder works.”
Born in Greece, Amiridis studied chemical engineering as a first-generation college student at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki before going on to earn a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He spent two decades at the University of South Carolina — as a chemical engineering professor, department chair, dean of the College of Engineering and Computing, and the university’s executive vice president for academic affairs and provost — before being named chancellor of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) in 2015. At UIC, he oversaw record increases in student enrollment and the number of research awards, raising the university’s national and international profile. Major initiatives included a 10-year capital plan to bolster UIC’s physical infrastructure and new programs to build out research support infrastructure.
For Amiridis, his new role as president of South Carolina’s flagship university system is a homecoming. “I’m excited and honored to return to the University of South Carolina as its next president,” he said when the appointment was announced. “Through academics, research and its vibrant culture, the university system is critically important to the people of South Carolina and to the state’s future. I feel privileged to be able to lead this great institution.”
