NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of
education and human development presented its Distinguished Alumnus
Award to University of Texas at Austin professor O.L. Davis Jr. during
commencement, Friday, May 14.
The annual award recognizes significant career and community achievements.
Currently
the director of the Oral History Program in Education at the University
of Texas at Austin, Davis rose from the ranks of associate professor to
full professor of curriculum and instruction to his current position as
Catherine Mae Parker Centennial Professor of Curriculum and Instruction.
He
is noted for his work in analyzing teacher practices, examining changes
and continuity in the curriculum of United States schools during the
American Civil War, World Wars I and II, and studying the impact of
World War II on the English school curriculum. His most recent research
focuses on the beginning of the high school accreditation movement in
Texas and the work to improve the education of African Americans in the
Southern states during the first half of the 20th century.
Davis
earned his doctorate degree from Peabody College (then known as George
Peabody College for Teachers) in 1958 with a major in curriculum and
teaching and a minor in history. He had previously completed both a
master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree with honors at the University
of North Texas.
His career prior to joining
the University of Texas has spanned the education spectrum-from serving
on the front lines of education as a teacher and principal to becoming
associate secretary for the nonprofit Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development to academe, where he has held posts at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Kent State
University.
In the 1950s, Davis taught
English and speech at Ozona High School in Ozona, Texas, was principal
at Burleson Elementary School in Burleson, Texas, and was a supervising
teacher at Nashville’s Peabody Demonstration School.
At the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Davis was associate
director of the Fifth Year Program in Teacher Education. While at Kent
State University, he served as an associate professor of education.
Davis
has received numerous awards and honors. The National Council for the
Social Studies recognized him in 1974 as its first recipient of the
Citation for Exemplary Research in Social Studies Education. The
council later honored him with the Distinguished Career Research in
Social Studies Education Award in 1996. He has received the Lifetime
Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to Curriculum Studies
from the American Educational Research Association, as well as been
recognized as a distinguished alumnus by his alma mater, the University
of North Texas.
In 1994, he became a laureate member of Kappa
Delta Pi international honor society in education. The society’s
Laureate Chapter is limited to a membership at any one time of 60
individuals chosen from around the world based on whether their
scholarship in their education specialty has been distinguished and
recognized as influential on an international basis.
In addition
to his career accomplishments, Davis has also found time to serve as
lay leader at Northwest Hills United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas,
and as a member of the Rotary Club. He is currently vice president of
the Rotary Club of Georgetown, Texas.
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Media contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS
Princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu