John Warren Davis (college president)

John Warren Davis
Davis in 1968
5th President of West Virginia State University[a]
In office 1919–1953
Preceded by	Byrd Prillerman
Succeeded by	William James Lord Wallace
Director of the U.S. Technical Cooperation Administration Program for Liberia
In office 1952–1954
Special Director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Teacher Information and Security Program
In office 1955–1972
Personal details
Born	(1888-02-11)February 11, 1888 Milledgeville, Georgia, United States
Died	July 12, 1980(1980-07-12) (aged 92) Englewood, New Jersey, United States
Spouse(s)	Bessie Rucker Davis ​ ​ (m. 1916; died 1931)​ Ethel McGhee Davis ​ (m. 1932)​
Children	Constance Davis Welch Dorothy Davis McDaniel Caroline Davis Gleiter
Alma mater	Atlanta Baptist College (Morehouse College) University of Chicago

John Warren Davis (February 11, 1888 – July 12, 1980) was an American educator, college administrator, and civil rights leader. He was the fifth and longest-serving president of West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia, a position he held from 1919 to 1953.^[a] Born in Milledgeville, Georgia, Davis relocated to Atlanta in 1903 to attend high school at Atlanta Baptist College (later known as Morehouse College). He worked his way through high school and college at Morehouse and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911. At Morehouse, Davis formed associations with John Hope, Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, Samuel Archer, Benjamin Griffith Brawley, Booker T. Washington, and W. E. B. Du Bois. He completed graduate studies in chemistry and physics at the University of Chicago from 1911 to 1913 and served on the faculty of Morehouse as the registrar and as a professor in chemistry and physics. While in Atlanta, Davis helped to found one of the city's first chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Davis served as the executive secretary of the Twelfth Street YMCA in Washington, D.C., from 1917 to 1919 when he was elected as the president of West Virginia Collegiate Institute. Under his leadership the school, (later renamed West Virginia State College), became one of the leading historically black colleges and universities and land-grant universities in the United States, in both academics and athletics. Through Davis' efforts, West Virginia Collegiate Institute became the first African American college to be accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) in 1927. Under his leadership, the college became home to the West Virginia Schools for the Colored Deaf and Blind and to West Virginia's Extension Service for African Americans. Davis also secured a Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) and Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) unit for the college during World War II. Through his efforts and educational statesmanship, Davis laid the groundwork for West Virginia State's transition into an integrated institution, and white students began enrolling in large numbers toward the end of his presidency.

U.S. President Harry S. Truman appointed Davis as a charter member to the first National Science Board for the National Science Foundation, on which he served from 1950 to 1956. In addition, President Truman appointed Davis as the director of the Technical Cooperation Administration program in Liberia from 1952 to 1954. Davis helped to establish the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (NAACP LDF), and he served as special director of the NAACP LDF Teacher Information and Security Program from 1955 to 1972. In this role, he administered the NAACP LDF's scholarship programs for African American undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. In his later life, Davis was appointed to the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and served as a member of the Bergen County College board of trustees. Davis continued to work as an active consultant for the NAACP LDF and serve as the head of its Herbert Lehmann Fund until his death in 1980. Davis was a recipient of 14 honorary degrees throughout his lifetime, and he was awarded Haiti's National Order of Honour and Merit (1948) and Liberia's Order of the Star of Africa (1955) for his service to those countries.

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