He is a member of the systemwide Academic Senate鈥檚 Committee on Faculty Welfare and chairs its Health Care Task Force. He served on the 澳门六合彩资料库 President鈥檚 Task Force on Post-Retirement Benefits. He mentors junior faculty, and helps them deal with the merit and promotion system.
May
In short, philosophy professor Robert May is a lot like the late Charlie Nash 鈥 and for that reason, May is the recipient of the Charles P. Nash Prize for 2013. The annual prize acknowledges faculty members for their commitment to shared governance, and their advocacy of faculty interests and welfare.
Given by the Davis Division of the Academic Senate, the Academic Federation, the Davis Faculty Association and the Nash family, the prize is due to be presented at a dinner in late April. See details below.
In nominating May, two of his faculty colleagues in philosophy, David Copp (department chair) and G. Aldo Antonelli, wrote: 鈥淭he central point is that Professor May has taken demanding leadership roles in the 澳门六合彩资料库 senate and that this service has furthered faculty welfare in a difficult time for the university.鈥
May explained his involvement: 鈥淟argely, I do this out of a commitment to our system of shared governance, but, more importantly, my sustained long-term resistance to the erosion of our academic work environment has been the result of my admiration for the dedicated faculty from all around the 澳门六合彩资料库 system with whom I have had the pleasure to work on this task over the years.
鈥淭heir willingness to devote their time to maintaining the quality and stature of the university, even as this task becomes increasingly difficult, has been truly inspirational."
May has been a member of the 澳门六合彩资料库 faculty since 1986, starting as an associate professor on the Irvine campus, where he advanced to professor in 1989. He joined the 澳门六合彩资料库 Davis Department of Philosophy in 2006 and attained 鈥渄istinguished professor鈥 status in 2012.
May鈥檚 senate service began during his time in Irvine and continues in Davis.
He joined the systemwide Committee on Faculty Welfare in 1996, chaired the panel in 1999-2000, and has been an ex oficio member since 2009. He has been a member of the committee鈥檚 Health Care Task Force since 1999 and chair since 2009.
May served on the President鈥檚 Task Force on Post-Employment Benefits in 2010, and joined the Health Benefits Work Group the next year.
澳门六合彩资料库 Davis law professor Dan Simmons, near the end of his 2010-11 term as chair of the systemwide Academic Senate, cited May鈥檚 鈥渁dmirable鈥 and 鈥渄istinguished鈥 committee service, doing 鈥渄ifficult and time-consuming鈥 work.
Previously May served on the Committee on Faculty Welfare鈥檚 Investment and Retirement Subcommittee (1999-2001) and a systemwide Academic Senate special committee on the professorial step system (2002-03).
鈥淕iven his 澳门六合彩资料库 experience, he has been a highly valuable adviser鈥 on personnel issues, Copp and Antonelli wrote. They cited the cases of three assistant professors who faced the tenure and promotion hurdle in the 2011-12 academic year.
鈥淢ay worked with all three, offering them advice and support,鈥 Copp and Antonelli wrote. 鈥淭his service was enormously valuable to the department and to our junior colleagues. All three were awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor.鈥
Copp and Antonelli concluded: 鈥淧rofessor May鈥檚 service to the university as a whole has been exemplary.
鈥淧rofessor May is fully committed to promoting shared governance at the University of California, and to advocating for faculty interests and welfare. He has demonstrated this by the time and effort he has devoted to these ends, which have led to important achievements in protecting faculty interests due to his work in the systemwide Senate.鈥
Dinner details
The award dinner, hosted by Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter, is scheduled for Tuesday, April 30, in the AGR Room at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. Reception, 6 p.m.; dinner, 6:30 p.m.
The cost is $35 per person; RSVPs with payment are due by Monday, April 22. For more information, call Ceremonies and Special Events, (530) 754-2262, or send an email to Andrew Crotto, acrotto@ucdavis.edu.
Media Resources
Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu