Davison, Fred C. (Fred Corbet), 1929-2004

Frederick Corbet Davison was born in Atlanta on September 3, 1929 and grew up in nearby Marietta. He attended Emory University and earned the Doctor or Veterinary Medicine degree at the University of Georgia in 1952. Upon graduation in 1952, Dr. Davison set up a private practice in Marietta. In 1958, he went to Iowa State University, where he taught veterinary medicine and led a research project sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. He earned the Ph.D. degree in biochemistry and pathology from Iowa State University in 1963. In 1963, he relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where he served as Assistant Director of Scientific Activities for the American Veterinary Medical Association for a year before becoming Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia in 1964. He left the latter position in 1966 to serve as Vice Chancellor with the University System Board of Regents, where he was given the responsibility for creating a public and legislative climate conducive to increasing state funding for higher education. In 1967, the largest budget increase for public higher education in Georgia's history was approved. Dr. Davison was appointed as the University of Georgia's 17th President in July 1967, inaugurated on July 1, 1968, and served until June 30, 1986, the third longest presidential tenure in the University's history. His presidency was marked by an unprecedented expansion in depth, size, variety, and quality of the University's research programs, its public service outreach programs, library resources, faculty and student body, and post-graduate education. Under his leadership, the University attained a ranking among the nation's top 50 research universities; its increased library holdings placed the University in America's top 30 libraries; and the institution became nationally ranked in the total number of honors students enrolled. Research expenditures grew from $15.6 million to more than $96 million during his presidency, reflecting a significant increase in competitively awarded contracts and grants received by the University of Georgia. Enrollment grew from 15,600 to 25,000 and graduate student enrollment more than doubled to 4,500. His goal of increasing the size and quality of post-graduate education led to total advanced degrees awarded each year nearly doubling in number, and doctoral degrees increasing from 123 awarded in 1968 to 315 in 1986. Dr. Davison was charged with overseeing the continued explosive growth of the University physical plant and to see that this growth of assets was matched by a growth of quality in the depth and breadth of the programs and services offered at UGA. In the years of his tenure, the University budget tripled, faculty ranks swelled by 600, and student enrollment grew by 68%. Davison took as his personal goal the growth of all aspects of scientific endeavor at UGA, from the increased commitment to teaching to the expanded role of service and research undertaken by University scientists and students. This growth was all the more remarkable in that it transpired in a time of political upheaval which found expression on the campus in Athens as well, as students protested for women students' rights in 1968, occupied the Academic Building (April 1968), and protested the student shootings at Kent State in May of 1970. A housing protest in 1972 led to trial of the "Athens Eight" and faculty unrest in mid-1970s led to the ouster of the University Provost (Pelletier). Ultimately a dispute over the administration of the University's Developmental Studies program, and charges by Jan Kemp of grade accommodations for student athletes created an atmosphere which led to Davison's resignation in 1986. Some of the campus buildings and improvements made during President Davison's tenure include the Law Library (1967); Boyd Graduate Studies/Science Library (1968); Psychology/Journalism Complex (1968); University Bookstore (1968); State Botanical Garden (1969-85); Aderhold Hall (1971); Plant Sciences Building (1972); Family Housing Extension (1972-74); Ecology Building (1974); Library Annex (1974); Henry Feild Stadium (1977); Law Annex (1981); Caldwell Hall (1981); Tate Student Center (1983). In July 1986, Dr. Davison assumed an endowed professorship in the University's College of Veterinary Medicine where he promoted the advancement of biotechnology, a field in which the University had become internationally prominent under his leadership. This area of science offers our world unlimited food, fuel, and fiber from biological sources in place of petroleum resources. Dr. Davison became President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Science Center Foundation, Inc. on October 1, 1988. The Foundation's goal is to restore mathematical and scientific literacy to our nation's classrooms as the essential element in reclaiming America's former position as the world's leader in the development and production of advanced technology. He retired from this position in July of 2002. Most recently, Dr. Davison served as Chair of the Board of Directors, Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, headquartered in Aiken, SC. On Friday, April 16, 2004, the biosciences complex at the University of Georgia was renamed the Fred C. Davison Life Sciences Complex. President Davison passed away on April 28, 2004.