James W. Davis, Ph.D., admits to having his fingerprints filed with the FBI -- three times.
A young Davis submitted a set of prints to the federal government to satisfy the requirements of a Boy Scouts merit badge. Then, as a Russian linguist in the U.S. Army Security Agency at the end of the 1950s, Davis underwent security clearances that demanded routine fingerprinting. He made his mark with the federal government yet a third time, in 1966, when he served as a consultant to a White House advisory commission on selective service.
"I can't do anything bad now, at least not without rubber gloves on," Davis said.
A professor of political science in Arts and Sciences and director of the Teaching Center, Davis leaves an imprint on whatever he touches. Whether he's teaching, crafting lively opinion/editorial essays, engaging in committee work or assuming administrative posts, Davis communicates with clarity, integrity and intellect.
He has parlayed his expertise in American politics, defense policy and the executive branch into courses such as "Political Literacy," "American Military History," "Politics and the Media" and "The American Presidency."
"Some faculty believe their job is to engage the material -- teach the subject," Davis said. "I believe you must engage the student. You never can assume that the students will give you their attention. You have to earn it or wrest it from them.
"One of my missions in life is to help people understand politics -- a part of the human condition," Davis continued. "Politics exists in a variety of settings. It is to anyone's advantage to understand political situations, the governing rules and how to avoid losing."
Word of Davis' teaching style travels fast, and classes fill quickly.
"Students are attracted to Professor Davis because he is dedicated, inspiring and always interested in students' opinions," said senior Jackie Ulin, who recently took one of Davis' classes. "He always had discussions going and got everyone to interact. We were all upset when the class was over."
Davis is a much sought-after counsel, having served on dozens of campuswide committees -- from the chancellor's search committee two years ago to a Student Union-initiated pilot project aimed at bringing faculty into the South 40.
Most recently, Davis coordinated University-sponsored educational activities connected with the first presidential debate, which was to be held last month at Washington University.
In the 28 years Davis has served on the Washington University faculty, he has become "a versatile citizen of the University," said Robert H. Salisbury, Ph.D., the Sidney W. Souers Professor of American Government in Arts and Sciences. "This was not something we could anticipate," explained Salisbury, who lured Davis to the University in 1968, "but it was almost implicit in the kind of person he was and the kind of work he did."
Davis is highly organized, governed in part by "to do" lists jotted on 3-by-5 note cards he stashes in his trademark multipocketed shirts. His students never find him too busy, however, to discuss a problem or clarify a point.
Davis is contemplative and quick-witted. An intent listener and an articulate speaker. A self-described "news junkie" and a lover of the outdoors. According to students and colleagues, he rarely says "no" to a call for assistance and gives his entire self to the task at hand. Davis is something of an enigma for his ability to serve so many facets of the University so well.
Yet it was the substance of his academic research that brought Davis, then on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, under the eye of the University's then up-and-coming Department of Political Science.
"He (Davis) wrote a marvelous book on the selective service administration in a time of great domestic turmoil over the Vietnam War," recalled Salisbury, department chair at the time. "When he talked about his research, it was the work of a master teacher. It was clear from the outset that he would be a splendid asset to the department -- and he is."
The son and grandson of Missouri circuit judges, Davis was raised in Chillicothe, Mo., in a family fairly active in public affairs. He remembers shaking hands with former Missouri Gov. Forrest Donnell, as well as meeting several prominent attorneys and public figures. But Davis broke the family tradition of a law career, opting to major in government at Harvard University.
His decision to apply to Harvard was made on a golf course in Texarkana, where Davis, his sister and mother spent a month each summer visiting his grandmother.
"I was trooping around the golf course -- I never played but enjoyed the walking -- and listening to a friend talking about going to Harvard," Davis recalled. "My clear impression was, if he can win a scholarship to Harvard, I bet I can."
And Davis did.
"My first year I was in shock," said Davis, grinning. "The students had been to Phillips Exeter, Andover, all the prep schools. I felt as if they were starting with a two-year college advantage."
Davis took the dive and quickly learned to plow the waters of a wider world. He sailed through his course work, graduating with a bachelor's degree in American government, with honors, in 1957.
Next came a three-year stint in the U.S. Army -- Davis enlisted to have more options -- which took him to the Army Language School (now the Defense Language Institute) in Monterey, Calif. There, he studied Russian and a year later was sent to Heilbronn, Germany, north of Stuttgart.
Davis was assigned to the Army Security Agency (now the Army Intelligence and Security Command) and will divulge little else of this experience. "The agency was an electronic communications intelligence arm of our intelligence effort," he explained. "It intercepts, decodes. ... That's all I can say."
But eager to further enlighten, Davis suggests: "Read James Bamford's 'The Puzzle Palace' and you'll learn all you'll want to know about the National Security Agency. Or David Kahn's book 'The Code Breakers.' You can find out a bit of what I was up to."
Davis earned a master's degree in public administration (1962) and a doctorate in political science (1964), both from the University of Michigan. While a student there, he met his wife, Jean, who earned a degree in education.
Davis' first year on Washington University's faculty was spent on leave -- at the National Institute of Development Administration in Bangkok, Thailand, where he served as an adviser and senior faculty member in public administration. He selected and trained graduate students planning to earn doctorates in the United States.
He published four books in six years: "Little Groups of Neighbors: The Selective Service System," co-written with Kenneth Dolbeare (1968); "Politics, Programs and Budget: A Reader in Government Budgeting" (1969); "The National Executive Branch: An Introduction" (1970); and "An Introduction to Public Administration: Politics, Policy and Bureaucracy" (1974).
Davis' work also has been visited at kitchen and coffee tables across America and beyond. His crisp, insightful essays on politics and policy have been carried by wire services and have run in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Atlanta Constitution, Los Angeles Times and dozens of other newspapers.
Davis' topics have included the size and shape of the defense budget -- "An army without an enemy has reason to keep a sharp eye on its future," he has cautioned -- and public support for art. "To focus only on the art and ignore its impact can put at risk not only an artist's own work but programs that benefit countless thousands of other artists. ... The budget leash can be jerked tight," he opined.
He has crafted his views on shrinking defense and the spiraling debt. The ever-present price of post-Watergate morality and the significance of the president's Cabinet. The mine fields of Bosnia and the roots of military conflict.
In one interview with Voice of America's Russian Language Service, Davis made a hit by introducing himself, and signing off, in Russian.
Washington University has played an increasing role in the entire Davis family. Jean Davis is an active member of the Woman's Club and regularly attends campus events with her husband. Their son, Warren, is an assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. A daughter, Clare, is a teaching assistant here who is completing a doctorate in German languages and literatures in Arts and Sciences. Both children earned degrees in German from the University.
Asking Davis to call forth the highlights of his varied academic career is a challenge because he has relished each experience. A graduate internship at The Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) is mentioned alongside his yearlong appointment in 1988 as acting dean of the School of Fine Arts.
Taking a year's leave from the University in 1976 to be research director for issues in former U.S. Sen. John Danforth's campaign "was a bit unusual, but it was current and interesting," Davis said. "These kinds of things have kept my teaching lively and up-to-date."
Davis served as associate provost from 1979 to 1980 and as a vice chancellor from 1980-86. He once -- briefly -- edited the editorial page of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
"I once described myself as a utility administrator," Davis said. "In another context, I've used a more sporting phrase -- utility infielder. Until I'm found out, I can play a lot of positions."
Forget the rubber gloves. Toss the professor a mitt.
-- Cynthia Georges
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