New Chancellor Chosen for UC Davis

University of California President Janet Napolitano has selected a replacement for the top job at UC Davis after the school's chancellor resigned last year following an investigation into alleged misconduct.

The president's office said in a statement Tuesday that the UC Board of Regents will hold a special meeting Thursday to vote on the proposed appointment of 52-year-old Gary May as UC Davis' new chancellor. May is dean of Georgia Tech's College of Engineering.

May would replace acting chancellor Ralph J. Hexter, who assumed the role after former Chancellor Linda Katehi resigned in August after months of turmoil at the public university.

Katehi resigned after being placed on paid leave last April amid allegations of misconduct. Napolitano suspended Katehi, who led the university for seven years, and ordered an investigation into her presidency. The investigation accused Katehi of nepotism and conflict of interest.

Katehi made headlines after she was tied to a contract with a firm that promised to downplay negative content on search engines. Specifically, the firm was tasked to produce positive content on the chancellor and the university to overwhelm any stories that referenced an infamous pepper spray incident in 2011 that placed the university under international scrutiny and created a wave of memes.

Napolitano's office declined to specify what May's salary will be. Katehi was paid $424,000.

“In my classes and early in my career, it always concerned me how few people like me there were,” May said in a statement. “By that I don’t mean smart or determined or curious people. I mean African-Americans, and people of color in general, and also women. That’s when I became interested in finding ways to ensure equal access to education and opportunity. We need to nurture talent, for the good of the individual and for the benefit of us all.”

May received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley.