The Last Word: Mike Ibba Chapman’s executive vice president, provost, and chief academic officer on vinyl records, espresso, and why not getting into medical school was the best thing that ever happened to him. 

Mike Ibba, pronounced EE-buh, grew up in London, summers in Sardinia, Italy, and once went to a Pogues concert that was more or less a riot. The microbiologist commutes by train from downtown Los Angeles, owns roughly 500 vinyl records, and makes a very serious espresso. We asked him some questions. 

YOU WERE BORN IN THE SAME LONDON HOSPITAL WHERE ALEXANDER FLEMING DISCOVERED PENICILLIN. WHAT WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD LIKE? 

My father is from Sardinia. He came to London for work, my mother met him on holiday there, and somehow that became my life. I spent every summer in Sardinia with my grandmother, who spoke no English, so I just learned Italian. Or some combination of Italian, Sardinian, and Catalan. When I later went to mainland Italy on my own, people immediately said, “Oh, you’re from Sardinia” — apparently the accent was unmistakable, which I had no idea about. 

YOU’RE BRITISH, BUT I’M TOLD YOU’RE PROUD OF YOUR ITALIAN HERITAGE. 

If you grow up in an Italian household, you either fully embrace the obsession with food or you don’t. We always ate dinner together as a family. My kids have done the same. One of the most gratifying things they’ve told me is how much they appreciate growing up that way. Their friends, their partners — they eat together, they don’t eat in front of the TV. It’s become part of who they are. My mother is 94 and just got out of the hospital. When I video-called her, half my extended family was crowded into the ward. The hospital staff had to ask some of them to leave because there were too many people talking at once. Very Italian. 

YOU HAVE AN EXTENSIVE VINYL COLLECTION AND SEASON TICKETS TO THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC. WHAT ROLE DOES MUSIC PLAY IN YOUR LIFE? 

When you grow up in London, there’s a real expectation that you’re opinionated about music: bands, albums, who’s good, who’s overrated. Everyone’s one-upping each other. It’s very much part of the culture. I still get together with friends from school and college, and we argue about the same things we argued about then. As for what I was actually listening to — The Clash, New Order. The first concert I went to was OMD (Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark). The best concert I ever went to was The Pogues. It was a massive old theater with all the seats ripped out, a horseshoe bar around the back, everyone drinking Guinness. The moment they came on, the whole crowd bolted their drinks and ran toward the stage. More like a riot than a concert. Fantastic. 

FAVORITE BAND OF ALL TIME? 

Either Radiohead, who I’ve seen, or My Bloody Valentine, who I’ve never seen live. I argue about it a lot. 

HOW DO YOU START YOUR DAY? 

Espresso. Single shot, Kimbo beans — it’s a Neapolitan brand. I have a Swiss Jura machine. When I lived in Zurich, there were these incredible patisseries that served what I’d describe as an expanded espresso — not an Americano, not diluted, just more coffee extracted slowly. I couldn’t find it here, so I bought the machine. 

YOU TAKE THE TRAIN FROM DOWNTOWN L.A. EVERY DAY. WHAT DOES THAT TIME LOOK LIKE? 

I work. It’s 45 minutes of uninterrupted time, which is rare. 

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT LIVING DOWNTOWN? 

It reminds me of London in the 1970s. There’s a comedian who has a line about it. He says if you ever wonder what happened to New York in the 1970s, it moved to downtown L.A. 

DO YOU HAVE A MEAL THAT MEANS SOMETHING TO YOU? 

My father’s spaghetti with spiny lobster. His town in Sardinia is on the coast. They have the same spiny lobster as California, not the North Atlantic kind. You get the lobster from the fishermen when it’s in season, make a red sauce, put it all on the table, and take your time pulling the shell apart and eating. My grandfather worked in the fish market and would make it for us on holidays. It has a whole history. 

A BOOK THAT’S STAYED WITH YOU? 

The Vegetarian by Han Kang. After I read that she’d won the Nobel Prize I thought, I should probably find out why. It’s short, but it’s challenging and completely unlike anything else. I unreservedly recommend it. 

WHAT SETBACK SHAPED YOU MORE THAN ANY SUCCESS? 

I didn’t get into medical school. In the United Kingdom you apply straight from secondary school, and I didn’t get in. My biology teacher told me that was a good thing, not because I wasn’t smart enough, but because I wasn’t right for it. He pointed me toward an offer from Imperial College to study biochemistry instead. I had no idea what Imperial was. It turned out to be one of the best universities in the world, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. 

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE STUCK? 

I ask people why I’m stuck. 

FAVORITE CHAPMAN TRADITION? 

Convocation. Most universities don’t do anything meaningful with it. Here, it’s this genuine welcome with students, faculty, and fireworks. I came during the pandemic, so the first one back in person really hit differently. 

WHAT WOULD YOUR YOUNGER SELF FIND MOST SURPRISING ABOUT YOUR LIFE NOW? 

How grown-up my job is. My kids tell me the same thing. 

WHAT QUESTION DO YOU WISH PEOPLE WOULD ASK YOU? 

“What are you looking forward to?” I’m looking forward to how this job evolves. It’s a right-place-right-time feeling — and I’m genuinely excited about what comes next.