Dean Anthony Bailey at the 2026 USC Bovard College Commencement.
Graduates of the Master of Science in Project Management (MSPM) program, along with their families, friends, and peers, gathered on USC’s University Park campus to celebrate commencement on Friday, May 15, 2026. This year’s MSPM graduating class included 126 students from 16 states, with careers in various project management roles and functions in companies such as Amazon, The Boeing Company, Disneyland Resort, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Tesla, and more.
Dean Anthony Bailey opened this year’s ceremony by marking a major milestone — the 10th anniversary of USC Bovard College — and praising the graduating class with the reminder, “You are ready to be a positive force for change in your respective industries.” Dean Bailey also acknowledged Bovard College’s six Order of Arête winners as well as the faculty members who received awards for excellence in student and faculty mentoring, service and leadership, and teaching.
Among this year’s faculty honorees was MSPM faculty member Erika Bobbitt, who received the award for Excellence in Service and Leadership. Bobbitt’s contributions include faculty governance, leading workshops as a Center for Excellence in Teaching Faculty Fellow, and championing initiatives like the USC SPHERE project, alongside her redesign of PJMT 520 to maintain its relevance and rigor. Dean Bailey also recognized MSPM graduate Sana Hansoti, who was honored at the 2025-2026 USC Student Recognition Awards for her leadership as the inaugural Secretary of USC’s Project Management Institute–Los Angeles Student Chapter (PMI-LA-SC). Hansoti earned her MS in Project Management with a 4.0 GPA while working full-time as a Chart Retrieval Specialist at Optum, UnitedHealth Group.
In her role with PMI-LA-SC, she helped launch the chapter from the ground up — spearheading official university registration, building governance structures, and partnering with Faculty Advisor Professor John Jones to plan workshops, certification guidance sessions, and networking events for students, alumni, and faculty across the USC community.
Carlos Adame speaks to USC Bovard College graduates at Commencement on Friday, May 15, 2026.
This year’s commencement speaker was Bovard College Professor Carlos Adame, whose nearly four-decade career has included transformational HR leadership roles at Amazon, Providence Health, UnitedHealthcare, AltaMed Health Services, and UPS. Having just retired from Amazon last month after leading the integration of AI across the business, Adame challenged graduates to step into the moment: “Your degree is not your destination. It’s your launching point. And the trajectory of your life will be determined not by the plan you made, but by how you thrive and lead others through the changes you never saw coming.”
Students in the MSPM program examine core Project Management principles and explore the full spectrum of project management concepts and methodologies, including portfolio and program management, technical project delivery, Agile methodologies, and change management. While the program assists students to advance to the next level of their careers, it also emphasizes the strategic role that project management plays in the performance of global organizations, providing students with the knowledge and skills needed to be effective leaders.
The Online MS in Project Management program at USC Bovard College is designed to fit students’ schedules and is offered on both a one and a two-year track. At 24 units, the program can be completed in just 12 months for students in the one-year track. No GRE is required, and students have their choice of three enrollment dates each year.