The members of a certain sci-fi student club should be especially excited about Gary May’s appointment as chancellor.
He said some of the factors that led to his early interest in STEM fields were Legos, Erector sets, comic books and science fiction — especially Star Trek. May wrote a post for his Georgia Tech blog in September commemorating the 50th anniversary of the show’s first episode, and the previous year he took up the mantle of Trekkies everywhere, donning Capt. Kirk’s uniform for a photo shoot and arguing in the pages of the university's alumni magazine that Star Trek is a better sci-fi franchise than Star Wars.
President Janet Napolitano, in recommending May’s appointment as chancellor, did not take sides in the Star Trek-Star Wars debate, but she did quote some of Capt. Kirk’s truisms that May has adopted as his own, as noted in May’s blog:
“In the words of Captain Kirk and Gary May,” Napolitano told the Board of Regents, “Don’t believe in no-win scenarios. Live with awe and wonder. Take action. Overlook honest mistakes. Get your hands dirty. Get involved in your own life and explore the world.
“‘These Kirk truisms have become part of my leadership style,’ Gary wrote on his blog. ‘Kirk led by example, he empowered his crew, he was decisive when the time came, and he forged new ground. All leaders need to be a Kirk at times. Whether it is through encouraging creativity and innovation, radically changing course when circumstances dictate, or assembling a team with diverse opinions and backgrounds, we can help lead our companies, our schools, and even our lives into places where no one has gone before.’”
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Cody Kitaura/Dateline, Dateline, 530-752-1932, kitaura@ucdavis.edu