Mick Dalrymple, USC’s inaugural Chief Sustainability Officer, has retired after five years of collaborating across USC teams to lead sustainability efforts at the university.
Dalrymple joined USC in 2021 with more than 30 years of experience in sustainability leadership, higher education, information technology and media.
During his tenure, Dalrymple helped develop the university’s long-range sustainability strategy, including launching Assignment: Earth, USC’s rigorous sustainability framework for creating a healthy, just and thriving campus and world.
Since then, the USC community has made significant progress towards achieving its goals, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% since 2014; cutting water use by more than 25%; diverting over 57% of campus waste from landfill (including eliminating over seven million single-use plastic beverage bottles as of 2026); expanding sustainability training, curriculum, and robust experiential learning; advancing interdisciplinary sustainability research; and phased divestment of fossil fuel endowment holdings, all earning USC an AASHE STARS Gold rating for comprehensive sustainability achievements.
Following his retirement, Dalrymple and his wife are relocating to Mallorca, Spain. He intends to focus on travel, photography and creative writing projects while exploring how artificial intelligence, storytelling and his decades of sustainability experience can help catalyze accelerated climate action.