USC Taps Anijo Mathew To Lead Iovine And Young Academy
India-West News Desk
LOS ANGELES, CA – Designer and entrepreneur Anijo Mathew took over as dean of the University of Southern California’s Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy on August 1.
Mathew joins USC from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he served as dean since 2022 and has been a professor since 2008.
Founded in 2013 with a gift from music industry veterans and Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Andre “Dr. Dre” Young, the academy brings together technology, design and business through undergraduate and graduate programs focused on innovation.
Students and faculty tackle complex problems through a project-based learning model, and many students launch or commercialize startups before graduating.
For Mathew, the opportunity to help shape one of USC’s newer professional schools was a major draw.
“With IYA, I have the opportunity to create a new legacy, because IYA is in its tweens,” Mathew said. “It’s an incredible opportunity to reimagine what the path forward looks like.”
Born in Kottayam, India, Mathew grew up in Muscat, Oman, before returning to India at age 14. After training as an architect, he co-founded one of Mumbai’s first digital design firms. He later earned a Master in Design Studies from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a doctorate in Design Computing from The Open University in the United Kingdom.
His research has focused on design-led corporate innovation and technology-driven urban experiences. In 2015, he founded Vamonde, a Chicago-based startup that used augmented and virtual reality to create digital storytelling experiences for cities around the world.
From 2019 to 2021, Mathew served as head of the Department of Art and Design at the College of Architecture, Art and Design at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. He has also lectured at Harvard Business School, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Illinois Tech’s Stuart School of Business.
Mathew takes over the academy as artificial intelligence, extended reality and robotics continue to reshape industries and higher education.
“We are at the cusp of this incredible transformation, and we need to train our students to be prepared for that time,” Mathew said.
