Julio Frenk became the seventh chancellor of UCLA on January 1, 2025. He also holds an academic appointment as distinguished professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management within the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. He is an accomplished university administrator and leading global health researcher who has held positions in government and academia, both in the U.S. and in Mexico.
Before becoming UCLA’s chancellor, Frenk served as president of the University of Miami from 2015 to 2024, where he also held academic appointments as a tenured professor. Prior to joining the University of Miami, he served for almost seven years as dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and as the T & G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development.
Frenk served as the federal secretary of health of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. In this role, he spearheaded an ambitious overhaul of the nation’s health system, introducing Seguro Popular— a groundbreaking program of comprehensive universal health coverage that extended healthcare access to over 55 million previously uninsured individuals. He was also the founding director-general of Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health and has held senior roles at the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Frenk earned his medical degree from the National University of Mexico, as well as a master of public health and a joint Ph.D. in medical care organization and in sociology from the University of Michigan. His scholarly production, which includes close to 200 articles in academic journals, as well as many books and book chapters, has been cited more than 37,000 times. In addition, he has written five novels for young people explaining the functions of the human body.
Frenk is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico, and El Colegio Nacional, the most prestigious learned society in Mexico. He has received numerous recognitions, including the Clinton Global Citizen Award, the Bouchet Medal for Outstanding Leadership from Yale University, and the Welch-Rose Award for Distinguished Service from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. In 2024, he was named one of TIME magazine’s top Latino leaders for his contributions to public health and higher education.
As the 13th president of the University of Southern California, Beong-Soo Kim leads one of the world’s top private research universities — home to 23 schools; more than 46,000 students; 4,700 faculty; 500,000 alumni; and Keck Medicine of USC, one of California’s leading academic health systems — all united by a mission to advance knowledge and transform lives.
As president, Kim launched the Open Dialogue Project, aimed at strengthening USC’s academic culture of engagement with differing perspectives. He also formed an AI Strategy Committee, and launched a number of university-wide initiatives to engage faculty, staff, and students on the opportunities and challenges posed by AI.
Recognizing the importance of the Trojan Family, Kim has focused on re-engaging alumni across the globe and relaunching alumni networks. He has also worked to strengthen USC’s partnerships with private industry, foundations, and local community leaders. Kim is recognized for his thought leadership on free expression and the future of higher education, and enjoys communicating with broader audiences and the Trojan Family through his presidential podcast, “Trojan Talks.”
Kim first joined USC senior leadership in 2020 as its senior vice president and general counsel. In that role, he helped the university navigate unprecedented changes in higher education, accelerate investment in research and innovation, and expand USC’s impact in the community.
Prior to USC, Kim held senior roles at Kaiser Permanente, was a partner at an international law firm, and served in the U.S. Department of Justice as a highly-regarded federal prosecutor. He is a frequent speaker on academic freedom, health system compliance, and the future of college athletics.
The son of Korean immigrants who attended graduate school at USC, Kim was born and raised in the Los Angeles area. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, his master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and his law degree from Harvard Law School.
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