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Michael Amiridis became the 30th president of the University of South Carolina on July 1, 2022. He had previously served as chancellor of the University of Illinois-Chicago since 2015.

During his academic career, Amiridis spent more than two decades at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. He held positions as a chemical engineering professor, department chair, dean of the College of Engineering and Computing and, from 2009 to 2015, the university's executive vice president for academic affairs and provost.

At Chicago, he focused on enhancing the student experience, engaging with diverse communities, raising UIC's national and international reputation, and creating a culture of entrepreneurship. Under his leadership, UIC experienced six years of record enrollments (exceeding 34,000 in 2021), three years of record research funding (exceeding $450 million in 2021) and two years of record fundraising (exceeding $125 million in 2021). As chancellor, he also oversaw UI Health, one the most comprehensive academic health care systems in the country, with seven health sciences colleges, a tertiary referral hospital, several clinics across the state and an FQHC embedded in the system.

Amiridis earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1991. As a researcher, he earned the National Science Foundation's award for early-career scientists and engineers in 1999. He was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012 and a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 2015.

Amiridis is a native of Greece and a U.S. citizen. He and his wife, Ero, have two children, both graduates of the University of South Carolina.