<p>Murray Gell-Mann is an icon when it comes to physics, but like most icons he is in a point of his career where he will do almost nothing for the academic reputation of USC. My guess is that he is hired for public relations reasons, in order to strengthen the fundraising ability of the science departments. </p>
<p>On an unrelated note, you may have heard that in the last few years USC has stood for University of Stolen Colleagues, on account of its very aggressive policy of recruiting visible researchers.</p>