Stephen May is an American lawyer who served as mayor of Rochester

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

 between 1970 and 1973 and as an assistant secretary for congressional

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 relations at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Reagan administration.

Biography

Born in Rockester, New York, on July 30, 1931, May attended Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

 and Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

, obtaining a law degree

Law degree

A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...

 from the latter. He served with the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

. From 1969 to 1981 he was with the law firm of Branch, Turner and Wise in Rochester, New York. May has served the Empire State Report magazine as chairman of the board. As of 2007, May maintained dual residences in Washington, D.C. and mid-coast Maine and occupied his time as a writer and art critic.

Political service

May was a member of the Rochester City Council between 1966 and 1973 and appointed 62nd Mayor of Rochester by his City Council peers in 1970 until he stepped down after the 1973 election returned a Democratic majority to office. Subsequently, between 1975 and 1979 he served as commissioner and chairman of the New York State Board of Elections. In 1978, he also served as a member of the Republican State Platform Committee. May's other political services have included standing as vice president of the New York State Conference of Mayors, as chairman of the Committee on Housing, and as a member of the White House Conference on Aging.