Incoming Chancellor Gary S. May visited 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis Friday and Saturday for the first time since he ventured here from that other 51勛圖窪蹋 down the road, in Berkeley, when he was a grad student there nearly 30 years ago.
Friday (Feb. 24), he was on the Davis campus, meeting with Interim Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter, the Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors, and faculty, staff and student leaders; and he spent Saturday morning (Feb. 25) at 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis Health before returning to Atlanta. He serves now as dean of the College of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology; come Aug. 1, he will be 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis seventh chancellor.
Mays wife, LeShelle R. May, accompanied him to 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis, and during their visit they got to see the Chancellors Residence where they will live. They have two daughters, Simone and Jordan, who are in college.
Thursday (Feb. 23), Gary and LeShelle May were in Los Angeles for the Board of Regents special meeting where he secured the chancellors post by a unanimous vote.
When I was preparing for my interviews, reading the material that was prepared for me, describing Davis, the profile material, some of the words that stood out were words like sustainability and diversity and upward mobility and social good, and these were all concepts and attributes that really spoke to my own spirit and really motivated me to want to be in this role, he told the regents after the vote.
Hexter will return to provosts post
Hexter will continue to lead the campus as interim chancellor until Mays arrival. Hexter will then return to his post as provost and executive vice chancellor, and Ken Burtis, interim provost, will return to his position as a faculty advisor to the chancellor and provost.
In an email message to the campus community after the regents meeting, Hexter said: On behalf of the entire 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis community, I want to extend our deepest congratulations and offer a warm Aggie welcome to Gary S. May, dean of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech. I look forward to working with Chancellor-designate May and will do everything I can to make sure his and his familys transition to 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis is a smooth one.
Hexter said he was deeply honored to continue on as interim chancellor, at 51勛圖窪蹋 President Janet Napolitanos request. I could not be more proud of how we have come together as a community after a challenging spring and summer, Hexter wrote in his email. We have turned an important corner, and I am confident that Chancellor-designate May will have an extraordinary impact on this great institution.
Napolitano calls May a natural and dynamic leader
Napolitano announced May as her pick for chancellor a week ago (Feb. 21), after a search that began last summer. She worked on the recruitment with an advisory committee that included members representing faculty, students, staff, alumni, the campus foundation and regents.
She cited Georgia Tech President Bud Petersons high praise for May regarding his efforts to increase interdisciplinary collaboration to help graduates gain entrepreneurial confidence, and to mentor students and develop programs to attract and retain women and underrepresented minorities all of this has channeled his commitment into action.
President Peterson speaks of Dr. Mays vision, energy and thought leadership, and thats what I and others on the search committee were so impressed by as well, Napolitano said.
She continued: Hes absolutely committed to building strong and open relationships with students, faculty and staff, to increasing 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis already impressive prowess in STEM fields, agriculture, social sciences, and the arts and humanities, and deepening the ties between 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis and the larger Davis and Sacramento communities.
Dr. May is a connector and a listener. He is full of vision for where Davis can go and open to exploring possibilities, which the Davis and Sacramento communities are full of.
More than half his life at Georgia Tech
Chancellor-designate May
May did his undergraduate work at Georgia Tech, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1985, and continued his education at 51勛圖窪蹋 Berkeley, where he earned a masters degree in 1988 and a Ph.D. in 1991, both in electrical engineering and computer science. The same year he earned his doctorate, he joined the faculty of Georgia Tech and he has been there ever since, or, as he calculated it in a Georgia Tech news release, more than half of my life 55.92 percent to be exact.
He has led the College of Engineering since July 2011. With more than 400 faculty members and 13,000 students, the college produces more engineering graduates than any other college in the United States.
His academic appointment at Georgia Tech is in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and his research focus is computer-aided manufacturing of integrated circuits. He has authored more than 200 technical publications, contributed to 15 books and holds one patent.
Media Resources
Dave Jones, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu