William G. Spitzer Interim Provost (1993) Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics

William G. Spitzer, professor emeritus of electrical engineering, materials science, and physics in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, was the first person in USC’s history to have served at every level of academic administration – as provost, dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, division dean, and department chair.

In 1989, Spitzer received the Presidential Medallion, the highest honor bestowed by the university on a member of the USC community. In 1992, The Hebrew Union College awarded him an honorary degree.

In 1993 Spitzer was asked by President Steven B. Sample to serve as interim provost while a search was conducted to replace Cornelius J. Pings, who left USC to become president of the Association of American Universities. He served as provost until Lloyd Armstrong, Jr. assumed the post.

Spitzer joined USC as an associate professor of electrical engineering in 1963, achieving full professorship within two years. An expert in solid state physics, he chaired the department of materials science from 1967 to 1969 and headed the department of physics from 1969 to 1972.

The following academic year, he served as dean of the Division of Natural Sciences. In 1983, a month after being named dean of graduate studies, Spitzer was appointed to the newly created post of associate provost of research, becoming the senior officer responsible for the research needs of the university. In 1985, he became acting dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and dean in 1986, serving in that post until June 1989 when he returned to teaching and research.

Following his retirement in 1992, Spitzer served as a part-time advisor to President Sample and Provost Pings, and he continued to participate as vice chair of the Strategic Planning Steering group and chair of the Faculty Senate’s Commission on the Future of the University.

Spitzer has chaired or served on nearly every major committee and governance body at USC, including budget, personnel and search committees. The "Spitzer Profile," allowing flexibility in faculty teaching and research workloads, is a product of a committee he led.

He was the recipient of a USC Associates Award for Research in 1970, and gave that year’s Research Lecture, “Semiconductor Defects and Infrared Absorption.” In 1982, he received a Raubenheimer Award from USC College.

Spitzer is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the author of more than 100 journal articles. His research has focused primarily on the optical and electronic properties of semiconductor materials.

During sabbatical leaves, he has been a visiting research scientist at UC Irvine, the Naval Research Laboratory and the Air Force Avionics Laboratory.

Spitzer earned his bachelor’s degree in 1949 from UCLA, an M.S. in physics from USC in 1952, and a Ph.D. in that field from Purdue University in 1957.

Before joining USC, he was a research scientist at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., and at the Bell and Howell Research Center in Pasadena, Calif.

While at Bell Laboratories during his formative years as a researcher, Spitzer pioneered the basic study of the physical properties of gallium arsenide, or GaAs, a compound that made a convincing case for itself as the material of choice for "optical processors."