Public Reception Set Monday for McDavis, Silas Hunt Legacy Award Winner

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Roderick McDavis

A public reception for Roderick McDavis, president of Ohio University and former dean of the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, is planned for Monday, Jan. 30. McDavis is the recipient of one of the Silas Hunt Legacy Awards to be presented by the university at an event this spring.

The reception will be from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Monday in the Multicultural Center in the Arkansas Student Union. Chancellor G. David Gearhart, Vice Provost Charles Robinson and McDavis will speak.

The Silas Hunt Legacy Award recognizes African Americans whose significant achievements in life contribute to the community, the state and the nation. The award was created in honor of the first African American student to enroll in the University of Arkansas in modern times.  

McDavis was dean of the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions and professor of counselor education from 1989-1994, making him the first African American dean in the university’s history. He served as the director of the Arkansas Academy for Leadership Training and School-Based Management from 1992-1994.

In 2004, McDavis became Ohio University’s 20th president, making him only the second university alumnus to lead the university as president.

A native of Dayton, Ohio, McDavis has served as a consultant and keynote speaker for universities, community colleges, public school systems, human service agencies, professional associations, community organizations and churches. In 1995, he was named Person of the Year in Education by The Gainesville Sun. He was named the 1996 Outstanding Alumnus of the Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education and Human Services at Ohio University.

In 2008, McDavis founded The Interlink Alliance, a coalition of historically black colleges and universities and Ohio University, for the purpose of developing and preparing African American students to learn, live and lead in the 21^st century.