Samuel Garrison was appointed senior vice president for university relations in February 2021. In this capacity, he provides strategic direction and leadership of USC’s external relations. Responsibilities include government relations, civic and community engagement, USC’s early childhood neighborhood pre-schools, and K-12 college preparation programs including the USC Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative. He also oversees Classical California, the nation’s largest classical music provider, and its flagship stations KUSC in Los Angeles and KDFC in San Francisco.

Most recently, Garrison served as chief of staff to the chair of the Board of Trustees and as a special advisor to President Carol Folt. He began his career working on Capitol Hill in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. After returning to Southern California, he was communications director to a Los Angeles city councilmember and then led government affairs at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, one of the nation’s largest regional business federations. During his six years at the chamber, Garrison revitalized the organization’s advocacy effectiveness with public officials at all levels of government and forged partnerships on important civic issues. He also drove the chamber’s leadership roles on multiple successful state and local ballot measures including landmark state redistricting (Proposition 11) and term limits reform (Proposition 28) initiatives.

Garrison has served in leadership roles at Caltech and at Caruso. At Caruso, he led strategic initiatives and civic relations for founder Rick Caruso, and as the executive director of the Caruso Family Foundation. Garrison was also a director at the High Lantern Group, a strategic communications firm.

Active in civic life, Garrison is an executive board member of Hillsides in Pasadena, one of the region’s oldest and largest family services providers, and founding board chair of Operation Progress, a youth success ecosystem in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is currently on the boards of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles Business Council, and is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Garrison holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from Loyola Law School. He is a member of the State Bar of California.