Star Trek: 10 Characters That Should Teach In Starfleet Academy

Announced at the end of March 2023, the loooong-talked-about Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will be finally hitting our screens sometime soon. As the title suggests, it will tell the story of "a new class of Starfleet cadets as they come of age in one of the most legendary places in the galaxy," as stated in the Paramount+ release on Twitter.

Part of the same Tweet, written in the style of a recruitment ad directly to prospective candidates, reads, "For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened […]." Given this, and the similar set-up made in Star Trek: Discovery, it's fairly safe to assume that Starfleet Academy will take place in the late 32nd century, in or around 3190 (the year of reopening in Kobayashi Maru).

After such a lengthy closure, the Academy is going to have to recruit not just new cadets, but most of its teaching staff too. That got us thinking! Who would we like to see in a professorial role at and in Starfleet Academy? We don't have to limit ourselves to the 32nd century either.

There are those from previous generations who will probably live that long, plus the galaxy's never short of a temporal anomaly or ten, but with all the right permissions and paperwork, a program akin to the Janeway hologram from Star Trek: Prodigy could be created for any character the show wanted. We already know the 32nd century uses sophisticated holographic technology — EMH Eli and other holos were serving at Federation Headquarters when Discovery arrived.

So, grab your PADDs and perhaps pop on a mobile emitter. Class is about to begin! Ex astris, scientia!

B'Elanna Torres had a turbulent time at Starfleet Academy, struggling with her emotions, and her identity. Whilst others were dodging asteroids in the belt, B'Elanna was dodging punches in the lab. "Only you could start a brawl in Astrotheory 101," as Chakotay once quipped. Eventually, after disciplinary hearings, a suspension, and no doubt the sour aftertaste of dating then-fellow cadet Maxwell Burke, B'Elanna quit the Academy, much to the dismay of the track-and-field coach.

Redemption story or no, B'Elanna was always brilliant. She may have fought with Professor Chapman, constantly challenging his methods and assumptions, but he thought she was "one of the most promising cadets he'd ever taught," even willing to support her should she want to re-apply. In fact, a lot of B'Elanna's professors felt the same. As Captain Janeway put it, it turns out B'Elanna "had more friends at the Academy than [she] realised."

What B'Elanna had failed to see in herself back then, she proved as an exceptional chief engineer on Voyager. She would be perfect (albeit in holographic form) in a teaching role, not least for her skill and expertise, but ultimately because she represents what Starfleet and the Academy are all about. They put the old motto — Ad Astra per Aspera — on the (24th century) recruitment posters for a reason. Through hardship, not in spite of it, you can travel to the stars!