John C. Davis Named Executive Director of Pryor Center

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John C. Davis has been named executive director of the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History in the U of A's Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Davis fills the Pryor Center's top leadership position, succeeding William A. Schwab, who retired last year. At the U of A, Davis has also joined the college's Department of Political Science as a teaching associate professor.

"While we are so grateful to Bill for his years of amazing service, we could not have found a more perfect new executive director than John," said Kathryn Sloan, interim dean of Fulbright College. "I know he will be an excellent addition to our college's leadership team, and his incredible vision and experience will successfully lead our Pryor Center into its next chapter."

Before joining the Pryor Center in January, Davis served on the faculty at the University of Arkansas at Monticello as an associate professor of political science. He was also the director of governmental relations and coordinated the university's legislative initiatives at the local, state and federal government levels, serving as institutional liaison to members of the Arkansas General Assembly, governor's office and state agencies. 

"It is truly an honor and a privilege to serve in this new role," Davis said. "Arkansas is a state of storytellers, and the Pryor Center's mission is to collect, preserve and share those stories."

Davis said he plans to build on the Pryor Center's ongoing work to foster more collaboration and to further strengthen its ties and partnerships with faculty and students on the U of A campus, while also broadening the center's scope to Arkansans across the state.

"I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such a talented team at the Pryor Center as we continue this noble work," he added. "The Pryor Center is in a unique and highly important position to remind Arkansans of the common ties we all share. By lifting diverse voices from within our state, we have the potential to heal division, to enlighten, to inform and to inspire."  

Prior to his role at the Pryor Center, Davis also served as UA Monticello's interim director of advancement from 2017 to 2018, during which time he secured one of the university's largest planned gifts ever, introduced an annual campaign, added several endowments, developed the UAM Student Success Fund and recorded a 25% overall increase in gifts from the previous fiscal year. 

At the conclusion of 2022, Davis also completed a five-year gubernatorial appointment to the Arkansas Rural Development Commission, where he served as vice-chair.

"John is incredibly well-respected as a researcher and educator, and for his service to Arkansas, the field of political science and beyond," Sloan added. "We're lucky and excited to have him in Fayetteville now. We are looking forward to his leadership, as well as his focus on fostering collaborative relationships and connecting the Pryor Center with the greater Arkansas community."

Davis' research interests include U.S. political parties, state politics and policy, and Arkansas politics.

He has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and other publications on state politics. Currently, his book, From Blue to Red: The Rise of the GOP in Arkansas, about the recent historic partisan shift in Arkansas, is under contract with the University of Arkansas Press.

Davis is a graduate of the Delta Regional Authority Delta Leadership Institute and Harvard Kennedy School of Government Authentic Leadership programs. He earned a B.A. and M.A. in political science from the U of A and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri.

An eighth generation Arkansan, Davis lives in Fayetteville with his wife, Ember; son, John Lee; and daughter, Grace.