Supporting USC’s Research Mission

Hossein Pourmand shares his professional path and advice for advancement success.

Hossein Pourmand

• Assistant Vice President, Research Initiatives
  2022 – present
• Senior Executive Director, Corporate and Foundation Relations
  2015 – 2022
• Executive Director, Corporate and Foundation Relations, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
  2014 – 2015
• Assistant Director, Technology Commercialization, USC Stevens Center for Innovation
  2012 – 2014
• Vice President, Business Development, Candelis, Inc.
  2005 – 2012
• Managing Partner, Venture Advisory Group, Inc.
  1999 – 2005
• Various Positions, Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO)
  1988 – 1999

Entry Point to Advancement

“The USC Stevens Center for Innovation was looking for someone with my background in venture capital to create an entrepreneurial platform for faculty. I joined Stevens, and we quickly launched several startups based on intellectual property developed by Viterbi faculty. In 2014, the lead corporate and foundation relations position in Viterbi became open, and I transitioned into that role.  I moved to central advancement 10 years ago.”

From For-Profit to Nonprofit Fundraising

After graduating from UCLA with a BS in chemical engineering, Hossein began his career as a process engineer for the Atlantic Richfield Company. He obtained his MBA and went into finance and business development roles. When British Petroleum bought out ARCO, he left the company to work in venture capital and the tech sector. Over the next several years, Hossein led strategic planning, venture capital financing and business development for several Southern California-based startup companies.

Given his background in corporate “for-profit” fundraising, Hossein was able to leverage his experience and skills to make a smooth transition into higher education advancement.

Today, Hossein manages central advancement’s corporate and foundation relations team and raises funds to support academic and research priorities. Under his leadership, the team constantly strives to improve the way they “connect the dots” across the university to create more compelling proposals and ideas to share with corporations and foundations.

Hossein also has his own fundraising portfolio of individual donors and prospects interested in USC’s research mission.

Hossein’s Advice for Aspiring Advancement Professionals

• Be flexible and willing to take on new challenges. Don’t be intimidated by all the different opportunities.
• Do anything you can to improve your communication skills, both written and verbal, as well as your interpersonal and leadership skills. Consider enrolling in a certificate program or pursuing an advanced degree at the USC Price School, like a master’s in nonprofit leadership and management.
• Sign up for USC Fundraising Institute classes. There’s no shortage of programs that can help you become better at different aspects of the work. I took a course in proposal writing that was very helpful.