Dr. Adrienne D. Davis, Washington University in St. Louis vice provost for faculty affairs and diversity and law professor, will be stepping down as vice provost May 31, 2021, according to a WashU press release.
Dr. Adrienne D. DavisDavis – director of the school’s new Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity – has helped increase Danforth Campus Black tenured and tenure-track faculty by 133% – to 8% of faculty – and underrepresented faculty of color by 110% – to 12% of tenured and tenure-track faculty – over the last ten years, according to Dr. Beverly R. Wendland, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.
“She is a force of nature in recruiting, available day or night and on weekends for phone calls, putting together countless intimate dinners at her home to convince people they would have community here, giving city tours, and even, on one memorable occasion, babysitting. As another colleague described it, her impact on the university is indelible,” said Dr. Rebecca Wanzo, chair in the women, gender, and sexuality studies department and professor of American culture studies.
Davis also heads academic pipeline and leadership development programs – such as the Women Faculty Leadership Institute – and has helped implement LGBTQ+ and gender equity initiatives – such as a preferred names policy and a gender-inclusive restroom policy.
A search for Davis’s successor as vice provost will be announced later this fall.
