Chancellor Gary S. May will soon have a fourth degree to add to his curriculum vitae.

He will be awarded an honorary doctorate and deliver the keynote address at the undergraduate commencement of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta on Saturday, Dec. 18.

A beloved graduate of Georgia Tech, May served there for nearly three decades before becoming UC Davis’ seventh chancellor in 2017.

Ángel Cabrera, president of Georgia Tech, wrote a letter of invitation to May. “We wish to recognize you for your service to the Institute, as well as the impact you have made on your community and in your career,” he said. “You have brought great distinction to your alma mater.”

Thanking the Georgia Tech family in a news release at the time of his UC Davis appointment, May said, “I have literally spent more than half of my life on this campus (55.92 percent to be exact), and that experience has shaped me into the person that I am today.”

As part of his visit to Atlanta, May will sit down with Cabrera to record an interview for Cabrera’s “Conversations with Cabrera” podcast.

After receiving his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering in 1985, May earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley in 1988 and 1991. 

May joined the faculty of Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering in 1991, served as executive assistant to Georgia Tech’s president, held an academic chair in electrical and computer engineering, and was the dean of the College of Engineering from 2011 until he left to become chancellor at UC Davis.

May has been recognized for his scholarship in computer-aided manufacturing of integrated circuits, as a champion of diversity and mentorship, and for community leadership. In 2015, President Barack Obama presented May with the Presidential Award for Excellence in STEM Mentoring.

The commencement at which May will be speaking is one of the university’s three fall ceremonies.