Each year, Discover USC features a keynote speech or panel discussion to kick off the festivities with an inspiring message for our presenters and the broader USC research community.

At the inaugural event, Discover USC 2017, Nobel Laureate Shuji Nakamura kicked off the event with a speech on his discovery of bright blue light-emitting diodes, which earned him a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014.

In 2018, Discover USC organizers were thrilled to welcome keynote speaker Dr. Caroline Potter, a Rhodes Scholar (2000), NSF Graduate Research Fellow (2000), Goldwater Scholar (1999) and USC Honors College alumna, who now works as an Oxford Research Officer conducting qualitative research with patients of England’s National Health Service.

Our 2019 keynote speaker, Dr. Kenneth Ramos inspired the Discover USC 2019 audience with his story of clinical and research achievement as a physician scientist.

Unfortunately, Discover USC 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the event went virtual, and keynote speaker Dr. Helmut Albrecht, provided an update on COVID, sharing his experiences treating the virus and providing insights on testing and the early vaccine rollout.

For Discover USC 2022, organizers unveiled a new keynote format, releasing a keynote panel discussion video before event day. This keynote featured a panel discussion among four of the University of South Carolina’s distinguished researchers from a wide variety of fields of study, moderated by skilled host August “Augie” Grant, the J. Rion McKissick Professor of Journalism in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. In the video, keynote panelists Dr. Gloria Swindler Boutte, Dr. Timothy Mousseau, Dr. Melissa Nolan and Dr. Mark Smith share their career insights and research experiences with the goal of inspiring a new generation of University of South Carolina scholars.