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Captain Kirk, Doctor McCoy, And Mr. Spock

STAR TREK inspired by College’s first dean

Charles Knapp of Carlsbad, CA (by way of Honolulu Star Advertiser columnist Bob Sigall) confirmed today that there is a connection between our first dean, Wilfred “Jasper” Holmes, and STAR TREK. Mr. Knapp wrote…

“One of the strongest early memories of mine was of course, December 7th and I became an early fan of airplanes and submarines as a result of the war and became acquainted as well with Jasper Holmes’ writing as ‘Alec Hudson.’ I gave Gene Roddenberry a signed copy of his book, Up Periscope! I played golf with Gene and Majel Roddenberry every Sunday at the Bel Air Country Club. Gene was then into the writing and imagination of STAR TREK and Majel was acting in the TV series. I can confirm that he used several of Holmes’ books as a foundation of STAR TREK stories.”

Holmes served as Dean of the College of Engineering from 1947 to 1965 and was a prolific writer, authoring naval-themed novellas under the name “Alec Hudson” for the Saturday Evening Post.  After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1922, Holmes was assigned to submarine duty. A disability forced his early retirement from the Navy and in 1936 he joined the University of Hawai‘i faculty as an assistant professor of engineering and mathematics. During World War II, he was recalled to active duty and served as an intelligence officer under Admiral Chester Nimitz. He worked in a secret room located under the Pearl Harbor headquarters building, helping to decode information from Japanese radio transmissions. Holmes returned to academia after the War.

Described as “essentially a space version of submarine warfare” by UNLV Associate Professor of Psychology Stephen D. Benning, STAR TREK is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into various films, television series, video games, novels, and comic books. With an estimated $10.6 billion in revenue, it is one of the most recognizable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

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