Davis Appointed Honors College Associate Dean

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Dr. Thomas S. Hibbs, dean of the Honors College at Baylor University, has appointed Tommye Lou Davis, associate professor of classics and Master Teacher, to serve as associate dean of the Honors College. She began her appointment this month.

"We are delighted that Professor Tommye Lou Davis has agreed to serve the Honors College as associate dean focusing on external relations," Hibbs said. "Professor Davis's deep and extensive ties throughout the Baylor family will help us to promote our still very young Honors College in the city of Waco, the state of Texas and beyond. Moreover, her reputation as a demanding and inspiring classroom presence, for which she has been recognized as a Master Teacher, will help us to raise even higher our expectations for undergraduate education in the Honors College."

"I am excited about the opportunity of serving the Honors College as associate dean for external relations," Davis said. "I will enjoy reaching out to students, parents, friends and alumni in order to share and promote the outstanding work of my colleagues and our students in the Honors College. I am grateful to President Lilley, Provost O'Brien and Dean Hibbs for their confidence in me and for affording me this opportunity."

A 1966 and 1968 Baylor graduate, Davis has taught Latin to thousands of Baylor students during her distinguished teaching career, which began just two weeks after she earned her undergraduate degree. In 1972, Davis was appointed assistant professor of classics with tenure, and in 1993, she was designated Master Teacher and associate professor. She also has served as acting chair of the department of classics and as special assistant and chief of staff in the president's office at Baylor.

At Baylor, Davis has served on the Faculty Senate, Faculty Athletics Council and the board of directors for the Baylor Alumni Association, and continues to lead Baylor's George W. Bush Library Project. Actively involved in student life on campus, Davis has served as faculty adviser for Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and was selected the Outstanding Adviser on Campus in 1996. She also is the adviser for Alpha Chi Honor Society.

In addition to her university service, Davis is active in the Waco community. She has served as president of the Junior League of Waco and continues to be actively involved with the organization. She is a former chair of Christmas on the Brazos for the Historic Waco Foundation and a former patron of the Lyric Opera, Waco Symphony and Waco Arts Center. She currently serves as vice chair of the Waco Mammoth Site Foundation Board and the Community Visioning Committee. In 2006, Davis was awarded the Waco Tribune-Herald's Difference Maker Award for her service to the Waco community.

Davis is a member of the American Philological Association, the Classical Association of the Middle West and South and the Texas Classical Association. She was named Outstanding Professor by the Baylor Women's League for 2001-02 and was presented with the Mortar Board Circle of Achievement Award in fall 2002 in recognition of her outstanding teaching and meritorious service to students.