He is a member of the systemwide Academic Senate’s Committee on Faculty Welfare and chairs its Health Care Task Force. He served on the UC President’s 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 — 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: “The central point is that Professor May has taken demanding leadership roles in the UC senate and that this service has furthered faculty welfare in a difficult time for the university.”

May explained his involvement: “Largely, 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 UC system with whom I have had the pleasure to work on this task over the years.

“Their 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 UC faculty since 1986, starting as an associate professor on the Irvine campus, where he advanced to professor in 1989. He joined the UC Davis Department of Philosophy in 2006 and attained “distinguished professor” status in 2012.

May’s 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’s Health Care Task Force since 1999 and chair since 2009.

May served on the President’s Task Force on Post-Employment Benefits in 2010, and joined the Health Benefits Work Group the next year.

UC Davis law professor Dan Simmons, near the end of his 2010-11 term as chair of the systemwide Academic Senate, cited May’s “admirable” and “distinguished” committee service, doing “difficult and time-consuming” work.

Previously May served on the Committee on Faculty Welfare’s Investment and Retirement Subcommittee (1999-2001) and a systemwide Academic Senate special committee on the professorial step system (2002-03).

“Given his UC experience, he has been a highly valuable adviser” 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.

“May worked with all three, offering them advice and support,” Copp and Antonelli wrote. “This service was enormously valuable to the department and to our junior colleagues. All three were awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor.”

Copp and Antonelli concluded: “Professor May’s service to the university as a whole has been exemplary.

“Professor 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.”

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.

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