2017 Phillips Medal of Public Service Recipient
Roderick J. McDavis, Ph.D.
Roderick J. McDavis, Ph.D., president emeritus of Ohio University, left
his mark on both the institution and on higher education in the state
through a record of remarkable growth and progress. A 1970 OHIO
graduate and only the second alumnus to serve as the university’s top
executive, Dr. McDavis became its first African American leader when
he was hired as the university’s 20th president in 2004.
During his 13 years as president, he presided over record enrollment
growth, as the university passed the 40,000-student mark while
increasing both student diversity and student scholarship support. Also
during this time, OHIO built five new residence halls and more than
a dozen new buildings statewide, while taking action to address the
long-standing issue of deferred maintenance in the university’s existing
facilities. Dr. McDavis also played a major role in helping to push the university’s Promise Lives Campaign – the biggest
fundraising campaign in its history – $50 million beyond its stated $450 million goal.
He spearheaded the writing of a new university Comprehensive Master Plan to provide a blueprint for development
in the coming decade, as well as a sustainability plan to increase OHIO’s use of renewable energy sources. He also
helped develop and implement the state’s first university technology transfer and commercialization plan and its first
guaranteed tuition plan.
Dr. McDavis served on the Heritage College’s advisory board and contributed to raising its national prominence as both
a research institution and one of the country’s top producers of primary care physicians. During his tenure, the Heritage
College experienced transformational growth, with the record $105-million Vision 2020 Award from the Osteopathic
Heritage Foundation in 2011 – aimed at strengthening the medical school’s ability to meet the most pressing health care
needs of Ohioans – and the opening of a second campus in Dublin in 2014, and a third in Cleveland in 2015.
After graduating from OHIO with a bachelor’s degree in social sciences in secondary education, Dr. McDavis earned a master’s
degree in student personnel administration from the University of Dayton, followed by a Ph.D. in counselor education and
higher education administration from the University of Toledo. Prior to his appointment at OHIO, he held academic and
administrative positions at the University of Florida, the University of Arkansas and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Dr. McDavis has received numerous honors and awards, including the Ohio Osteopathic Association’s Meritorious Service
Award in 2017 and the University of Arkansas’ Silas Hunt Legacy Award in 2012, which recognizes African Americans
for significant achievements or contributions to the community, the state and the nation. In 2007, he was one of only six
president and CEO-level leaders in the state to receive a Leadership Ohio Award of Excellence, and in 2010 he was inducted
into the Association of Ohio Commodores.
Dr. McDavis stepped down as Ohio University president in February 2017. He now serves as the managing principal and
CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based AGB Search, a higher-education executive search firm.
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