Boyd Stilrud

## Dr. Boyd Stilrud

* **Name:**Boyd Douglas Stilrud
* **Position:**Senior Professor of Political Science, Social Science and Earth Sciences department at Minnesota State University Moorhead. MSUM's Commissioner on the Moorhead  City Commission.
* **Metatype:**Troll  (*Homo sapiens ingentis*)
* **DOB:**9/17/2039, Afton MN, UCAS
* **Education:**Doctorate of Political Science, Univerity of Minnesota
* **Family:**Doctor Steven Stilrud (father, deceased), Elise Holland (mother, Kensington MN), Amber Metcalfe (ex-wife, Winnipeg, RRDMZ), Irene Stilrud (daughter, Fargo, RRDMZ), Stephen Marcus Stilrud (son, Winnipeg, RRDMZ)

Dr. Boyd Stilrud likes to think of himself as a towering intellect in a sea of midgets. And certainly, as the only Troll on the Moorhead City Commission, he definitely towers over the people in most rooms he's in.

Born to a pair of Trolls who expressed in early adolescence and met at a wilderness camp for the Goblinized children of those with money. So while he was born the year of the Night of Rage and grew up in a world that discriminated against 'trogs', he also grew up with overprotective parents who had access to a great deal of inherited money in an era when money could buy anything. And by his own admission it was this contradiction that probably led him to the social sciences (and this was the basis of his thesis '*Multidimensional Intersectionality and Public Participation in a post-National World'*).

With the family fortune decimated (not destroyed, but definitely diminished) in White Monday in 2059, when Boyd was still an undergraduate, he has had to rely on his ambition to get ahead in a world that doesn't believe that people who look like him can speak like him. Well, ambition and the contacts and top-notch education that his wealthy upbringing equipped him with. Rushing through grad school, he graduated with a doctorate at age 26 in 2065, as ongoing allegations of academic ethics violation about his thesis disappeared with the thesis itself in the Second Crash and took an open position as a political science professor at MSUM (replacing the infamous, but popular, Doctor Peter Schulte, who had to go on the lam after his participation in the North Star uprising). He quickly became an asset to the university, especially in the matter of cultivating corporate sponsors, who were charmed by the pro-corporate views in his published works.

Upon the resignation of MSUM's previous commissioner, Dean of Students Adam Greff, Stilrud was nominated to the position. True, there were some who said that his part in assembling and presenting the evidence of abuse of power that forced Greff out gave him a conflict of interest but Stilrud insists that his familiarity with the incidents actually made him better qualified to assume the seat.

Since joining the Commission, Boyd has positioned himself as a voice of moderation, often more framing the arguments than taking sides. He is a very visible presence, as a Troll, especially a Troll of style. He is as known for his hand-crafted suits and classic automobile (a Troll-modified SK72 Neo-Duesenberg) and hosting a web series about cooking with real food for TransForum Media. People do sometimes wonder, how he affords that on modest investments, commissioner's and professor's salaries, with the increased living needs of a Troll, alimony to his ex-wife and other expenses. But nobody every answers those questions because people know, people who matter know, that Boyd Stilrud is a commissioner they can rely on...

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