Short Bio of Chancellor Gary S. May

Gary S. May is the seventh chancellor of UC Davis, one of the nation’s most academically and socially diverse universities. He is leading the university to new heights in academic excellence, enterprise research, public service and upward mobility for students of all backgrounds.

Chancellor May came to UC Davis in 2017 after serving as dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering, the nation’s largest and most diverse school of its kind. May has won numerous awards for his research in computer-aided manufacturing of integrated circuits. In 2010, he was named “outstanding engineering alumnus” of UC Berkeley, where he earned his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science.

In 2015, President Obama honored him with the Presidential Award for Excellence in STEM Mentoring. In 2021, he received the prestigious Lifetime Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for demonstrating extraordinary leadership to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in the fields of science and engineering. May was inducted to the National Academy of Engineering in September 2018 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in April 2020.

A prominent voice in higher education, May is also a member of the Boyer 2040 Commission, which was created by the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities to design a blueprint for excellence and equity in undergraduate education at U.S. research universities. He serves as Vice Chair of the Universities Research Association’ Council of Presidents and is on the executive committee of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities Board of Directors. May is a board member for the American Council on Education, a member of the Task Force on Higher Education and Opportunity and a Commissioner of the national Council on Competitiveness. He also serves on the advisory board for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.