Carol Lynn Folt (born 1951) is an American ecologist and academic administrator, currently serving as the 12th president of the University of Southern California since July 2019.

[15] Under Chancellor Folt's direction, UNC spent approximately 18 million dollars defending itself from NCAA sanctions for prolonged and widespread fraud within academic and athletics departments, the details of which were outlined in Wainstein Report.

[19] This finding led both fans and media across the country to question "the integrity of the NCAA, suggesting that UNC's case would open the doors for other universities to set up similar no-show classes so long as non-athletes could enroll.

[21] Folt resigned as chancellor on January 14, 2019, effective end of the spring semester, stating: "There has been too much recent disruption due to the monument controversy".

[25] As part of Folt's reform efforts, in March 2021 the university agreed to pay more than $1.1 billion to former patients of campus gynecologist George Tyndall who was accused of preying on a generation of USC women.

[26] In the summer of 2021, USC had a free speech quagmire over tweets posted by Yasmeen Mashayekh, a 21-year-old, Palestinian civil engineering student whose statements include, "I Want to Kill Every Motherfucking Zionist".

[28] In June 2020, Folt announced the university was stripping the name of former USC President Rufus Von KleinSmid - an active supporter of the eugenics movement - from its international center for public affairs.

[30] In April 2024, Folt and her administration were met with widespread controversy following her decision to restrict valedictorian Asna Tabassum from speaking during that year's commencement ceremony.

Following several on-campus protests, statements from dozens of human rights organizations, and national coverage, USC further restricted all external speakers from speaking at that year's commencement.

[33] On November 8, 2024, Folt announced plans to retire at the end of the 2024–2025 school year and remain on the faculty of the University of Southern California.

[34] In February 2025, the USC Board of Trustees announced that the university's general counsel Beong-Soo Kim would succeed Folt as interim president starting on July 1, 2025.