USC Dedicates New Korean Air Convergence Plaza

A vibrant hub of interdisciplinary collaboration and community connection, the plaza is named in honor of the global airline chaired by USC alumnus Walter Cho MBA '06.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- USC leaders and special guests gathered Tuesday to celebrate the dedication of the new Korean Air Convergence Plaza on USC's University Park Campus.

"USC has always been a place where people with different ideas, backgrounds and perspectives come together in the quest for excellence," said USC President Beong-Soo Kim. "Thanks to Korean Air and Walter Cho, students and faculty from across a range of disciplines will have a beautiful shared space to converge, connect and create."

Kim and Chairman and CEO of Korean Air and Hanjin Group Walter Cho MBA '06 were joined by USC Trustees and guests to announce the newly named plaza in the heart of USC's engineering corridor.

The Korean Air Convergence Plaza will welcome generations of students, faculty, researchers and alumni — as well as the thousands of visitors who will visit the University Park Campus during the upcoming LA28 Olympic Games.

The plaza is a social and collaborative outdoor hub at the center of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, USC Mark and Mary Stevens School for Computing and Artificial Intelligence, and three of the university's academic buildings: the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall, the Ray R. Irani Hall for Molecular and Computational Biology, and the Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience.

Students, faculty, researchers, alumni and visitors will have an inviting outdoor space for interdisciplinary collaboration and everyday community interactions. By bringing together people from a variety of experiences and expertise, the Korean Air Convergence Plaza will encourage connection, foster creativity and inspire new ideas in an echo of Korean Air's purpose of connecting for a better world.

"Los Angeles has been our gateway to the Americas for over five decades, and we remain deeply committed to collaborating with USC, a premier academic institution," Cho said. "We hope this plaza serves as a collaborative space where brilliant minds gather to drive innovation and create meaningful change."

About Korean Air
Serving the world for more than 55 years, Korean Air is one of the world's top 20 airlines, carrying more than 25 million passengers in 2025. With its global hub at Incheon International Airport (ICN), the airline serves 116 cities in 39 countries on five continents with a modern fleet of 166 aircraft and over 20,000 professional employees. Korean Air's outstanding performance and commitment to the highest level of safety and customer service has widely been recognized. The airline has been granted numerous awards including a 5-star airline rating from Skytrax as well as Airline of the Year from both Air Transport World and Airline Ratings. Korean Air is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, and has grown into one of the largest transpacific airlines through its joint venture with Delta Air Lines.

About USC
Founded in 1880, the University of Southern California is one of the world's leading academic research institutions with 23 schools, a multi-billion-dollar health enterprise and a vast research and development engine. The university enrolls 46,000 highly accomplished undergraduate and graduate students and employs 4,600 faculty who are members of major national academies, and MacArthur, Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize winners, among many others. USC has a nationally recognized athletic program and a passionate global network of 500,000 alumni — the Trojan Family. Located in the heart of Los Angeles, USC is a powerhouse of innovation and impact with a global reach.

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SOURCE University of Southern California