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New chair announced for MC Board of Directors

Sept. 15, 2021

Photo of Mike Davis

Michael C. “Mike” Davis, Jr. of Maryville, Tenn., has been elected chair of the Maryville College Board of Directors, effective immediately, for a term to expire in October 2023.

Davis is fulfilling the incomplete term of the late Board Chair A. Coleman “Cole” Piper ’68, who died suddenly and unexpectedly on Aug. 26. Diane Humphreys-Barlow ’70 will continue her role as vice chair.

As the new Board chair, Davis is the 21st person to hold the position in the College’s 202-year history. Davis joined the MC Board in 2012 and has served on the Buildings Grounds and Technologies Committee, as well as the Audit and Risk Management Committee. Most recently, he served as chair of the Finance and Investment Committee.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee and spent most of his career working for Harrison Construction, serving as president from 2005 until 2009. Currently, he serves as regional director of First Horizon Bank.

Davis is actively involved in the local community, having served as president of Mountain Homes, Inc., campaign chairman for the Blount County United Way and chairman of the Blount County Chamber of Commerce. He served on the board of the North Carolina Asphalt Paving Association, and he was vice president of the Blount Memorial Hospital Board of Directors from 1991 until 2006. He is a member of First United Methodist Church in Maryville.

The Davis family has strong ties to Maryville College. Davis’s wife, Ibby Shelley Davis ’68 attended Maryville College and served on the board of the Maryville College Alumni Association. Their son, Todd Davis ’00, is also a Maryville College graduate (the couple has one other son, Chris). Ibby Davis’s parents, the late Ed Shelley ’31 and Elizabeth Cannon Shelley ’31, both graduated from the College, and Ed Shelley served on the Maryville College Board of Directors.

Mike Davis’s brother, Lee Davis, taught in the College’s English Department for six years. Their late mother, Connie Davis, taught physical education at the MC from 1963 until 1972, and their late father, Carle Davis, served as chairman of the College’s Board of Directors.

“As we recover from the untimely loss of Cole Piper, I am confident that Mike Davis’s steady and proven leadership will be of substantial benefit to the Board and College,” said Maryville College President Dr. Bryan Coker. “Mike’s willingness to serve in this role is also quite meaningful, given his close friendship with Cole. I look forward to working with Mike and Diane to advance the bold and strategic initiatives which we’ve begun undertaking for the College’s future.”

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”