Gary May, dean of the College of Engineering, will depart Tech this summer for the chancellorship of University of California (UC), Davis.
Janet Napolitano, president of the UC system, recommended May as the sole candidate for the position, with the UC system’s Board of Regents confirming the appointment Feb. 23. May will begin at UC Davis on Aug. 1 of this year.
May will depart from Tech prior to his start date and an interim dean for the College of Engineering will be appointed. The search process for a permanent replacement has essentially already begun, with the makeup of a search committee currently being determined.
May has served as dean since 2011, and also holds an academic appointment as an instructor for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; prior to becoming dean, May held the Steve W. Chaddick chair in the same school.
A Tech alum, May graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1985 and received a master’s and a doctorate from UC Berkeley in electrical engineering and computer science.
Among May’s greater achievements is the creation of the Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Science (SURE) program, which hosts minority students’ research on Tech’s campus in hopes of encouraging those students to pursue a graduate degree.
Similarly, May co-created and co-directed the Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (FACES) programs, which focuses on increasing the number of minority Ph.D candidates at Tech.
President Obama awarded May the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2015 for these efforts.