Roderick J. McDavis
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Roderick J. McDavis became Ohio University's 20th president on July 1, 2004. A native of Dayton, Ohio, he received a bachelor's degree in social sciences in secondary education from Ohio University in 1970, making him only the second university alumnus to lead the university as president. He received a master's degree in student personnel administration from the University of Dayton in 1971, and a doctorate in counselor education and higher education administration from the University of Toledo in 1974.
McDavis served as provost and vice president for academic affairs and professor of education at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, from 1999-2004. He was dean of the College of Education and professor of education at the University of Florida from 1994-1999. He was dean of the College of Education and professor of counselor education at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, from 1989-1994. He served as the director of the Arkansas Academy for Leadership Training and School-Based Management from 1992-1994. He was a professor of education in the Department of Counselor Education at the University of Florida from 1974-1989 and an associate dean of the graduate school and minority programs at the University of Florida from 1984-1989.
McDavis has served as chair of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). His primary interests and publications include restructuring teacher education programs, improving public schools and districts, counseling ethnic minorities, recruiting and retaining minority students and faculty, and evaluating student personnel programs. He has authored or co-authored chapters in books, monographs and articles in professional journals and other publications. He has also promoted racial diversity at Ohio University. McDavis's most recent accomplishments include increasing the number of entering multicultural students at Ohio University by 50%, hiring Frank Solich [University of Nebraska] as head football coach, and the implementation of a strategic plan called "Vision Ohio" calling for improvements in undergraduate education, graduate education, and research. Goals for the institution include recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty and students, excellence in undergraduate education, and national prominence in graduate education.
McDavis has served as a consultant and keynote speaker for universities, community colleges, public school systems, human service agencies, professional associations, community organizations and churches. In 1995, McDavis was named Person of the Year in Education by The Gainesville Sun. He was named the 1996 Outstanding Alumnus of the College of Education at Ohio University. He also received the Post-Secondary Outstanding Educator Award from the North Central Florida Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa in 1996. McDavis received the 1997 Black Achiever's Award in Education from the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators.
McDavis was also named both the most and least popular public figure of Athens, Ohio, the seat of the university, by The Athens News, a local alternative newspaper. President McDavis is a controversial figure at Ohio University. He is a firm leader, this firmness of decision making combines with the centralization of power in his office in a way that makes some of his decisions appear authoritative. President McDavis has implemented many changes in his tenure at Ohio University. He has centralized the power to revoke degrees to the office of the Presdent. The decision to do so came on the heels of a serious of academic integrity scandals at the university.
McDavis's major accomplishment of the 2005-2006 school year was the drafting of the Vision Ohio document, which is a comprehensive plan for Ohio University's future. He has also presided over major changes in the schools' alcohol policy.
Since the beginning of his tenure as President of Ohio University, McDavis has become an increasingly polarizing and controversial figure. In the spring of 2006 he failed a Faculty no confidence vote sponsored by the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
