Professor fatally stabbed at USC

LOS ANGELES — A student stabbed a psychology professor to death on the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles on Friday in what was believed to be a personal dispute, authorities said.

Los Angeles Police Officer Meghan Aguilar said the professor was killed inside the Seeley G. Mudd building in the heart of campus. A student was arrested in connection with his death.

Aguilar said the student was to be interviewed Friday night and that his name would be released after he was booked.

USC President C. L. Max Nikias identified the professor killed as Bosco Tjan.

Tjan joined USC in 2001, taught in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and served as co-director of the Dornsife Cognitive Neuroimaging Center, Nikias said.

The USC Department of Public Safety said in a statement that investigators believe the attack was not random and “was the result of a personal dispute.”

Chris Purington, project manager at Tjan’s lab, said he never heard of anyone having a problem with Tjan — listed in public records as 50 years old and married with one son — and had no idea who would have wanted him dead.

“He was somebody who really cared about people. I know he cared about me,” Purington said through tears. “He mentored people and he looked out for them.”