Rod Roddenberry

Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Jr., usually known as Rod Roddenberry, was born on February 5, 1974 to Star Trek creator Gene RoddenberryGene RoddenberryGene Roddenberry (1921–1991), born Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, was an American television writer and producer who created Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation. His space-exploration stories explored cooperation, diversity and humanity’s future.Open the full entry and actor Majel Barrett.⁠[4]

In 2016, Rod recalled working as a production assistant on Star Trek: The Next Generation at 13. His understanding of his father’s work developed gradually through audiences and renewed engagement with the series.⁠[1]

Rod studied astronomy, physics and photography at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. Near the end of his college studies, he became a technical adviser on Earth: Final Conflict and spent several years working in Toronto.⁠[5]

In 2001, Rod returned to Los Angeles and reopened the family’s merchandising business. Earlier activities included operating a telescope at Mount Wilson and teaching young people to dive in Florida.⁠[5]

Rod became CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment in 2006, developing the family brand across screen productions and other media.⁠[4]

Rod began diving in 1993 and founded the Roddenberry Dive Team in 2009. The group combined diving with environmental education involving biologists and oceanographers. He connected underwater exploration with Star Trek’s encouragement to understand unfamiliar worlds.⁠[2]

Rod founded the Roddenberry Foundation in 2010, adding philanthropy to his work on the family legacy. The foundation emphasizes exploration, shared responsibility and social progress.⁠[4][6]

In October 2011, the Roddenberry Foundation gave $5 million to San Francisco’s Gladstone Institutes for the Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine. The gift supported basic and translational research, rather than establishing a clinical outcome.⁠[7]

Trek Nation premiered on Science Channel on November 30, 2011. Through interviews and personal exploration, Rod sought to understand his father as a fallible person rather than an idol, while examining his own identity.⁠[8]

Rod co-created Mission Log with John Champion and Ken Ray and serves as its executive producer. Beginning in 2012, the podcast examined Star Trek episode by episode, focusing on ethical questions, metaphors and character choices.⁠[3]

In 2012, the dive team worked with artist Greg Aronowitz and others to turn debris collected from the Los Angeles River into a sculpture of George and Gracie, the whales from Star Trek IV. It was presented at Monterey’s Blue Ocean Film Festival to encourage environmental discussion.⁠[2]

On March 3, 2016, Rod and Trevor Roth were announced as executive producers of CBS’s new Star Trek television project, joining Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin and Bryan Fuller.⁠[9]

After his mother died in 2008, Rod and Trevor Roth secured family film materials and worked with CBS, Paramount and restoration specialists. The 2016 Roddenberry Vault Blu-ray set included 12 episodes and three documentaries. His contribution centered on preservation, coordination and enabling the project.⁠[1]

NASA announced an August 19, 2021 panel for Gene Roddenberry’s centennial, with Rod as moderator and participants including George Takei and NASA personnel, exploring connections between science fiction and scientific exploration.⁠[10]

In a December 2, 2021 Reddit AMA, Rod responded to concerns about darker recent series by acknowledging that he sometimes questioned whether individual productions were sufficiently optimistic. He nevertheless believed their underlying messages still pointed toward a better future.⁠[11]

The 33-inch Enterprise model made in 1964 resurfaced on eBayeBayeBay Inc. is an online marketplace company headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar; it started out with person-to-person online auctions and listed on Nasdaq in 1998. As of the end of 2025, it had 135 million active buyers, and its platform’s gross merchandise volume in 2025 was nearly $80 billion.Open the full entry in 2023 after years missing. With help from fans and auction specialists, Rod recovered it and arranged conservation by Lou Zutavern, preserving signs of its history.⁠[12]

On February 2, 2024, OTOY, Paramount Game Studios and Roddenberry Entertainment launched The Archive for Apple Vision Pro, presenting explorable three-dimensional Star Trek ships and settings. Rod described it as a way to preserve and share the franchise’s legacy.⁠[13]

On August 12, 2026, XPRIZE announced Rod as a Future Vision XPRIZE judge. The competition encouraged creators to imagine desirable futures, with support from the Roddenberry Foundation.⁠[14][15]

A September 2026 report announced plans to display the 33-inch Enterprise model at the MIT Museum from September 30 through March 2027. Rod wanted the object placed in a scientific and engineering setting that connected imagination with making things.⁠[12]

On September 25, 2026, Rod judged the Future Vision XPRIZE final at Moonshots Live in Los Angeles, where Jeff Synthesized’s The Gifted won. On stage, he recalled first enjoying Star Wars and later appreciating Star Trek, emphasizing stories that change how people see things.⁠[16][17]

In an interview published October 2, 2026, Rod expressed hope that Paramount’s new team understood Star Trek’s distinctiveness, while saying he did not know the timing or form of future projects. His comments were an outlook, rather than an announced release schedule.⁠[18]

In a public Future Vision XPRIZE statement, Rod interpreted his father’s vision as intellectual, ethical and social progress, emphasizing curiosity, empathy and shared purpose. This was Rod’s interpretation of Gene’s outlook, rather than a verbatim statement by Gene.⁠[15]

The company’s official biography lists Rod’s executive-producer credits on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Lower Decks and the audio drama Star Trek: Khan, alongside his management and philanthropic work.⁠[4]