Linfield College to inaugurate Dr. Miles K. Davis
Linfield College will inaugurate Dr. Miles K. Davis as its new president on Friday, March 8, capping a week of celebration around the theme “Global thinking, local engagement.”
The ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. in the Ted Wilson Gymnasium in the Health, Human Performance and Athletics building on the college’s McMinnville campus. It will include a speech by award-winning performing artist Phylicia Rashad.
Davis is the 20th president in the college’s 161-year history. He has a Ph.D. in human and organizational sciences from The George Washington University, an M.A. in human resource development from Bowie State University and a B.A. in communications from Duquesne University. He was the inaugural chair of the management science department at the Harry F. Byrd Jr. School of Business at Shenandoah University, became the founding director of its Institute for Entrepreneurship and was named dean in 2012.
Davis is an authority on entrepreneurship with recent work focusing on integrity, values and principles in the business world, as well as faith-based entrepreneurship. He helps organizations manage cultural and structural changes, strategic planning, leadership development and strategic growth initiatives. He is a member of the Society of Leadership Fellows at St. George’s House, an organization based out of Windsor Castle in England that brings together world leaders in a variety of fields to analyze contemporary issues. Davis is also the first college president to come out of The PhD Project, a network that helps members of underrepresented communities attain doctorates and become leaders in higher education.
Rashad became a household name when she portrayed Claire Huxtable on “The Cosby Show.” Currently, she has recurring roles as Diana Dubois on the popular Fox TV series “Empire,” Carol on “This is Us,” and will be featured in Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s “David Makes Man,” a new series on the OWN Network. She has received both the Drama Desk and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Lena Younger in the Broadway revival of “A Raisin In The Sun.”
Respected in the academic world, Rashad is the first recipient of the Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre at Fordham University. She also received an honorary doctorate from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Rashad graduated magna cum laude from Howard University and is the mother of two adult children.
Guests are invited to attend a reception immediately following the ceremony in the Rutschman Field House.
For more information and a full schedule of inauguration events, visit www.linfield.edu/inauguration.
