Michael Piller Michael B . Piller was a writer and Executive Producer of , and co - creator of and . He is probably best known for co - writing and the pilots of both " Deep Space Nine " and " Voyager " ( and , respectively ) . A 24th century chemical element , pillerium , was named for him . Biography . Piller , a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , began his career as a news producer for CBS News in New York . He later produced news programs in North Carolina and Chicago , eventually winning two Emmy awards for news journalism . In the late 1970s , he moved to Los Angeles and became a censor in the CBS television docudrama unit . His creative writing career began in the early 1980s , when he wrote numerous teleplays for hit shows , including " Simon and Simon " and the innovative " Miami Vice " . He also produced ( or co - produced ) many of the episodes he wrote . Following a long illness , Piller died of head and neck cancer in his home in Los Angeles in 2005 . He is survived by his wife Sandra , and his children Brent and Shawn . " Star Trek " . In 1989 , Piller ' s long - time friend Maurice Hurley called upon him to script a few episodes for . His stories were widely acclaimed , and Piller eventually became an Executive Producer of the series . His tenure is noted for its character development , rather than for exploiting sci - fi gadgetry of the future . Piller originally had a one year contract and was ready to leave " The Next Generation " with the ending of Season 3 . Gene Roddenberry himself asked him to come back for another year , noting that the fourth season was the one where the audience would fall in love with the series . ( TNG Season 3 DVD - special feature , " Mission Overview Year Three – Ending Season Three " ) In 1992 , Piller ( along with Rick Berman ) began the creation of " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " , and he contributed to the series ' writing , casting , and budgetary direction , all the while continuing his duties as executive producer of TNG . Piller was an avid baseball card collector , reportedly with a collection numbering in the hundred - thousands ( hence Benjamin Sisko ' s affinity for the game ) . After two seasons with DS9 , Piller left the show to help create " Star Trek : Voyager " , which launched in 1995 as the " flagship vessel " of the newly - created UPN ( United Paramount Network ) . He left the staff of " Voyager " in 1996 after seven continuous years with the " Star Trek " franchise , but remained a " creative consultant " for " Voyager " . He subsequently returned to write and co - produce in 1998 . Later works . During his " Star Trek " years , Piller only made one major venture outside the franchise . The result was the unusual sci - fi western series " Legend " , which he created with Bill Dial and which starred John de Lancie . This series had a very brief run on UPN in 1995 . In 2002 , Piller co - developed ( with his son , Shawn ) the television series based upon the Stephen King novel . That series featured DS9 ' s Nicole de Boer and TNG guest star David Ogden Stiers . Piller wrote a screenplay called " Oversight " , which he described as a Washington - based thriller that is not a big action movie but rather a " small personal character story . " The screenplay has yet to be produced . In early 2005 , he created and produced a new television series , the family drama " Wildfire " , which starred DS9 ' s Nana Visitor . " Star Trek " interviews . Piller was interviewed on about the creation of " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " . This interview was later used as part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature " Deep Space Nine : A Bold Beginning " . Piller has also been interviewed in an . Piller stated that his favorite TNG episodes were , and , " " because they had remarkable emotional impacts . And they genuinely explored the Human condition , which this franchise does better than any other when it does it well . " " " Star Trek " awards . For his work on " Star Trek " Michael Piller received the following award and nominations in the various writing and producer categories . Emmy Award . Piller received the following Emmy Award nomination in the category Outstanding Drama Series Hugo Award . Piller received the following Hugo Award nomination in the category Best Dramatic Presentation Gene Roddenberry Award . Piller received the following honorary Gene Roddenberry Award as Executive Producer / Writer from the FantastiCon Science - Fiction Convention , which was presented to him by original actress Anne Lockhart : Bibliography . Piller wrote a book about the writing of " Star Trek : Insurrection " entitled " " . The manuscript was completed , but he died before it could be published . Officially , both Paramount and the Piller family have exercised legal options to keep the book private , though Piller ' s widow , Sandra , who described the work as " brutally honest " , later , in 2013 , gave somewhat more nuanced reasons for its non - publication : " " Well , when he first got the go - ahead from the studio to write the book , and he got it signed - off with all the actors and everyone . . . when he finally turned it in , he was shocked ! They said , " We can ' t let the public know what we do here , what goes on behind the scenes ! " " " Nevertheless , due to a miscommunication , the full text was briefly published by in 2010 . It has never been fully suppressed since . Sandra Piller furthermore revealed that she was looking into the possibility to have the work yet published .