David Davies, associate vice chancellor for Finance and Administration for the Division of Student Affairs, retired from his position in July.
We held a drop-by celebration with Davies on June 15 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Wallace W. and Jama M. Fowler House Garden and Conservatory. David’s family, friends and colleagues gathered and shared some “David stories” and presented him with gifts and kind words, including remarks from former Chancellor David Gearhart.
Davies’ impact on the University of Arkansas and the Division of Student Affairs is unmeasurable and he will be greatly missed. During his tenure he took on numerous challenges, which resulted in successful changes; from opening and creating new housing for students, securing the expansion of the Pat Walker Health Center, and finding a better home for the Veterans Resource and Information Center, just to name a few. He’s also a great storyteller and has many to pull from in almost any situation.
Charles Robinson
“David has been an excellent steward of the Division’s resources. His knowledge of finance and budget philosophy has been one of his greatest strengths. David has also been an innovative thinker who improved the Division’s business processes in order to tease out more resources for student support,” said Charles Robinson, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic and student affairs. “From renovating older residence halls and building new ones, to expanding the Health Center, and negotiating complex contracts, David has helped make this a better campus for everyone.”
In 2010 when the number of Freshman increased by a record number 750 in one year due to the Lottery Scholarships, Davies brought more residence halls online that had been closed for several years, and when that was not enough to house everyone, he contracted with a local apartment complex to offer housing to even more students.
He has been instrumental in many University Housing projects including the renovation of Hotz Hall into the Honors Residence Hall, as well as building both Founder’s and Adohi Residence Halls. And Adohi is a marvel of residence halls in the United States, being the first one built with cross-laminated timber and the first multi-story, advanced-timber structure in the state of Arkansas.
“Working with David has been informative and entertaining. He always has a story to demonstrate his point. I will miss him,” said Flo Johnson, executive director of University Housing. “However, I’m so glad he will have more time on Mt. Petite Jean and with his family.”
Daniel J. Pugh, then vice provost for Student Affairs and dean of students, hired Davies into the Division in 2010.
“David was an immediate difference maker within the areas of his responsibility and supervision as well as all departments in the Division. As our time together passed, I learned much from
Dave Davies
David, including about myself as a leader and as a friend. To this day, I still miss our talks that were more about life than they were about work. Spending time with David made me a better husband, father, and Christian/Catholic,” said Pugh, who is now the vice president for Student Affairs at Texas A&M University. “Few people make significant impacts in the life of a university and few make an impact in your life, however, far fewer do both. Da
vid made the university better for students and he made my life better too.”
Davies helped the Pat Walker Health Center get a much-needed 20,000 square foot expansion and renovation, which opened in 2018, to help take better care of U of A students.
“David is strategic and was the key to moving forward with a plan to meet the needs of students. This resulted in the expansion of the Pat Walker Health Center,” said Mary Alice Serafini, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs and executive director of Pat Walker Health Center. “He is an educator who taught me and my team the ins and outs of construction. David coached, questioned, encouraged and appeared out of nowhere frequently to get an update to keep the momentum going. His great-grandmother Sally Green Davies was the lead person in establishing the first student health center on campus. With his vast experience in initiating construction projects, implementing them and quietly celebrating these accomplishments we now have a campus health center that meets current and future needs for the University of Arkansas.”
“David was the reason Veterans Resource and Information Center (VRIC) received the current space we are in on Garland Ave,” said Erika Gamboa, director of VRIC. “He saw a need when he could barely walk into our area in the Arkansas Union because it was so crowded. He then oversaw the project from beginning to end. Our Veterans would not have such a wonderful space without his hard work and dedication.”
Part of Davies’ work was meeting with directors about their budgets on a quarterly basis, listening to their needs and sometimes asking difficult questions.
“David Davies has been a constant encourager and mentor for me as director of Student Media. He is always eager to hear what I hope to accomplish in student media and is a cheerleader of students. He believes in what student media does for students and I will forever be grateful for his support,” said Robyn Starling Ledbetter, director of Student Media. “He also taught me a lot about budgets and how to stretch the dollar! He will be missed.”
Ask Davies what he is most proud of accomplishing during his time in Student Affairs and you get another pertinent story:
“There was a young geophysics researcher (from Petit Jean) who went to work for Cal Tech. He asked what his job description was and his department head said ‘To reduce the resistance to research.’ The researcher asked if he was referring to their department or Cal Tech and he said ‘Everywhere.’ My mantra has been similar. I look at my role being to “reduce the resistance to ‘getting things done’”. Things need to get done of course, but I look at the problem solving needed to remove the roadblocks.
On this campus there have been some themes. Financial viability and stability for Student Affairs is one, of course. Getting the facilities built that Housing, Dining, and PWHC need I looked at as critical. The ways to do that often differ. Negotiating a contract with Chartwells (with Lynne Bell, assistant vice chancellor for business services) that included a capital contribution of $32 million was one example. Helping Mary Alice Serafini convert the Health Center’s processes to collect insurance claims provided the funding to build the PWHC expansion.
I enjoyed helping Trevor Francis, director of Student Success and associate vice provost, figure out how many square feet was needed in the new Student Success Center. Putting together a Native American history display in the Arkansas Union was also very satisfying.
P.S. That young Cal Tech researcher ended up developing the Hubble space telescope camera (after Princeton University’s team couldn’t figure out how to do it).”
David has a long history with the University of Arkansas. He came to the U of A as a freshman in the Fall of 1965. He lived in Yocum and Humphreys Residence Halls and said he “went through about 4 different majors.” He holds two degrees from the U of A, earning a Bachelor of Economics in 1970 and a Master’s in Public Administration in 1972.
Davies was named executive director of Garvin Woodland Gardens in 2002. From Feb. 2005 to April 2010 Davies was the executive director of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, a lodging and Conference Center. He has been in charge of the Division of Student Affairs finances since 2010. Though he has held several formal titles during this time, he has always been the Division’s storyteller, always ready with an interesting tale about the University, the state of Arkansas or just something relevant to the situation at hand. He has a ton of great stories.
What are Davies’ plans for retirement with his wife Sandy and their family? Well, he’s got a story for that:
“My first thought was to observe that there will be an outdoors emphasis, but before that I should establish a caveat. My retirement plans and Sandy’s plans for my retirement may not be the same. Sandy is way too excited for me to retire. She is very list oriented, so I am very concerned.
Back to the outdoors theme. We have a large enough piece of land to have a large vegetable garden and the beginnings of a very small fruit tree orchard. Sandy is into native plants and trees, so there are a dozen plus of those so far. And we like to landscape right around the house.
We also literally live at the end of the road some might almost call a trail, so I grade it with a tractor and blade, particularly after a heavy rain. There is also a family cabin to maintain along with its yard. And a couple of dozen muscadine vines (planted by my grandfather) from which Sandy makes preserves/jam. The vines have to be pruned annually and a little bit of weeding during their growing season.
My dad started a deer camp at the cabin in 1949. That continues with second and third generation participants. I would like to fish more – crappie, trout, perch. I have the stuff, just have not had the time to go fishing more than about once a year.
Duck hunting is a family tradition, but last year was awful. Brother Richard at least makes sure I have a chance to go a few times each season. Older brother Ladd junior (exiled to Maryland) did not come home for the duck season last year for the first time in decades due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The three of us (brothers) grew up duck hunting with our Dad and with last year’s exception have been able to go hunting together at least a couple of times a year. Lots of stories told in duck blinds.
Sandy and I own a pretty good-sized camper in partnership with my daughter and son-in-law. What has been a couple of trips a year for a couple of days may increase a little. We are partial to state and federal parks, the Buffalo River…..
And then there are grandchildren, ranging from 2 ½ to 18. They all like Petit Jean. The 18-year-old will be a freshman here at the U of A this fall, living in Gibson – which was Razorback when I was here 55 years ago as a freshman in Humphreys Hall. Not that it is family tradition or anything but there are probably 30 plus Davies, spouses and cousins on Senior Walk, starting with great aunts in 1893, 1896, and 1904. And then my grandfather in 1907, next generation my father in 1937….and so on.
As for our house, we do have a view. It’s on Petit Jean Mountain, about 850 feet above the Arkansas River Valley down below. Atkins is due north about five miles away. We can see past Atkins and the “mountain” ranges to the north another 10-15 miles. To the northwest is Mount Nebo and Russellville/Dardanelle, bout 20+ miles away. Pretty picturesque, delightfully remote. We have a great fireplace and I cut my own firewood. Sandy even has her own small chain saw.
And season tickets for Hog football and basketball, of course. And church.
I’ll think of something to do.”
You can watch a video of David Davies speaking about his undergraduate experience at the University of Arkansas to one of Charles Robinson’s classes here.