| The life sciences building will be named for
Fred C. Davison, UGA’s 17th president and the man widely credited
as the architect of the university’s rise into the ranks of
top U.S. research institutions.
The University System Board of Regents at its February meeting approved
a request by President Michael F. Adams to name the facility the
Fred C. Davison Life Sciences Complex. Davison, who
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| UGA’s 17th president, Fred Davison,
is often called the architect of the university’s rise
into the ranks of top U.S. research institutions. His 19-year
tenure was the third longest of any president in UGA’s
219-year history. |
was president from 1967 to 1986, promoted the concept of a single
facility to house the university’s burgeoning genetics and
biochemistry programs, which had gained international stature. He
helped plan and design the building and was instrumental in obtaining
state funding for its construction.
A ceremony will be held in the near future to formally name the
building and to honor Davison, whose 19-year tenure was the third
longest of any president in UGA’s 219-year history.
“Fred Davison helped put UGA on the map as a top-rank research
institution,” says Adams. “The university, and the entire
state of Georgia, are in his debt for his vision and unwavering
determination to lift UGA to a role of national educational prominence.
The life sciences complex will be a lasting testament to his achievements
and an enduring symbol of our gratitude.”
Opened in 1991 as home of the genetics and biochemistry departments,
the 257,000-square-foot building cost $32 million, making it—at
the time—the largest construction project in the history of
the University System.
Davison, a UGA alumnus who rose to dean of the College of Veterinary
Medicine and vice chancellor of the University System of Georgia
before being named UGA president, made scientific research a top
priority of his administration. The university’s total budget
grew fivefold, from $72.5 million to $370 million, and much of that
growth was in the research budget, which soared from $15.6 million
to more than $96 million.
Funding from research contracts and grants climbed from less than
$7 million to more than $27 million during Davison’s presidency.
Graduate enrollment more than doubled, and the number of doctoral
degrees awarded annually rose from 123 to 300. About 900 faculty
members were on the Graduate Faculty—a record at the time.
Much of Davison’s research emphasis centered on biotechnology,
then a young and emerging field, and especially the disciplines
of genetics and plant sciences. The number of faculty increased
from 1,150 to 1,850 during his administration, and many of the additions
were scientists in such areas as plant cellular and molecular biology,
population genetics, microbiology and fermentation research.
Leading researchers recruited during the Davison administration
include Norman Giles, a National Academy of Sciences member who
helped create UGA’s genetics department, and Peter Albersheim,
whom Davison persuaded to move his entire laboratory—the Complex
Carbohydrate Research Center—from Colorado to Athens.
Davison also strongly supported research in other areas, including
computerization, international law, the arts, business and marine
science. UGA was designated a Sea Grant institution in recognition
of excellence in marine research and outreach.
The School of Environmental Design was established, along with other
major research and service units, including the Rusk Center for
International and Comparative Law (named for former U.S. Secretary
of State Dean Rusk, whom Davison recruited to the law faculty),
the Rural Development Center, the Small Business Development Center
and the Center for the Study of Global Issues.
The university’s burgeoning research program began to attract
national and even international attention under Davison, and in
the 1970s UGA ranked in five national surveys as one of the top
50 research institutions in the country.
Davison began working with faculty and other university officials
on plans for the life sciences building in the early 1980s, promoting
it as a facility that would thrust UGA into international leadership
in biotechnology research. He worked closely with the regents, state
legislators and then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris to obtain funding for
the facility.
Although construction didn’t begin until 1987, a year after
Davison stepped down as president, the facility came to symbolize
his success in strengthening research at UGA.
Touted for its modern design, the building features a trio of connected,
octagonally shaped towers, each containing about 72,000 square feet
of space, including a basement and four above-ground floors of laboratories,
classrooms, offices and support space.
While the building wasn’t actually erected during Davison’s
presidency, more than 15 other major buildings were constructed,
including the Boyd Graduate Studies Research Center, Aderhold Hall,
the Tate Student Center, Miller Plant Sciences Building, Caldwell
Hall, the ecology building, Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall and the doubledecking
of Sanford Stadium.
Davison, a Marietta native, attended Oxford College of Emory University
before transferring to UGA in 1948, where he earned a doctoral degree
in veterinary medicine in 1952. After practicing in Marietta for
several years, he went to Iowa State University, where he taught
veterinary medicine and became leader of an Atomic Energy Commission
research project on stable rare earth compounds.
After earning a doctorate in pathology and biochemistry at Iowa
State, he worked for the American Veterinary Medical Association
for a year before being named dean of the UGA veterinary college
in 1964. In 1966, he became vice chancellor of the University System
of Georgia, a position he held for a year before being named UGA
president at the age of 37.
His wife, Dianne C. Davison, also a 1952 graduate of the College
of Veterinary Medicine, served tirelessly as the university’s
first lady throughout President Davison’s 19-year tenure.
Davison made a commitment to excellence the overarching theme of
his presidency. He pushed for higher academic standards for students,
instituted more stringent requirements for faculty hiring and promotion,
and emphasized the importance of teaching. He was also a strong
supporter of UGA’s public service program.
Enrollment rose in all but two years while he was president, climbing
from 15,600 to 25,000, and he conferred more than 106,000 degrees,
more than the total conferred by all his 16 predecessors.
UGA’s Honors Program became one of the 10 largest in the country,
and the number of volumes in university libraries topped 2.5 million,
helping move the libraries into the top third in rankings of all
research libraries.
Davison presided over UGA’s Bicentennial celebration in 1984–85
and also led the university’s first major fund-raising campaign,
which netted more than $93 million.
When he stepped down as president, alumni and friends contributed
about $900,000 to establish the Fred C. Davison Professorship, an
endowed chair in the veterinary medicine college.
After leaving the presidency, Davison spent two years on the veterinary
faculty, continuing to push for advances in biotechnology. In 1988,
he became president and CEO of the National Science Center Foundation
in Augusta, a position he held until retiring in 2002.
He now serves as chair of the board of directors of Citizens for
Nuclear Technology Awareness, headquartered in Aiken, S.C., and
remains involved in numerous other Augusta-area civic activities.
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