D. Jack Davis

Advancement Board Member

D. Jack Davis, professor emeritus and founding dean of the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas, held numerous roles during his 40-year tenure. He served as director of graduate studies in art (1971-1976), chair of the Department of Art (1976-1983), vice provost (1983-1993), dean of CVAD (1993-2004), and co-director and director of the North Texas Institute for Educators on the Visual Arts (NTIEVA) (1990-2011). He earned a B.A. and M.A. from Baylor University (1959, 1961), a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota (1966), and a certificate in appraisal studies in fine and decorative arts from New York University (2001).

Davis’s teaching career includes positions at Waco Public Schools (1959-1961), Baylor University (summers of 1960 and 1961), Wayland College (1961-1963), the University of Minnesota (1964-1965), Illinois State University (summer of 1967), and Texas Tech University (1965-1969). He also worked as associate director of the Aesthetic Education Project at the Central Midwestern Regional Educational Laboratory (CEMREL) in St. Louis, and as director of evaluation for the Arts in General Education Project in the University City, Missouri, Public Schools (1969-1971).

Author of over 50 publications and presenter of more than 100 papers, Davis’s research and creative activities, funded by organizations such as the U.S. Office of Education, the JDR III Fund for Arts Education, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Annenberg Foundation, and others, focus on curriculum development in the arts. His interests include K-12 comprehensive, integrated arts education and Texas art history, particularly early Texas artists, 19th-century Texas silversmiths, and Texas women artists.

A lifetime member of the National Art Education Association (NAEA), Davis served on the board and chaired the Higher Education Division (1973-1975). Named a Distinguished Fellow of NAEA in 1989, his numerous awards include the Eisner Lifetime Achievement Award (2024), Distinguished Service Within the Profession (2010), the Lowenfeld Award (1990), and National Art Educator of the Year (2005). As a lifetime member of the Texas Art Education Association (TAEA), he served as president (1987-1989), was named Texas Art Educator of the Year (1990), and was inducted as a TAEA Distinguished Fellow charter member (1993). He received the Community Arts Recognition Award (CARA) from the Greater Denton Arts Council (GDAC) (2006), the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Council of Art Administrators, the International Council of Fine Arts Deans, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art (CASETA) (2012). He also received an Administrative Fulbright Award to Germany (1990).

As a consultant to school districts, colleges, universities, and art museums, Davis has served on numerous boards including GDAC, the African American Museum in Dallas, the International Council of Fine Arts Deans, the National Council of Art Administrators, the NAEA, the National Art Education Foundation (chair for eight years), the TAEA, the Southwest Region of the College Board, and CASETA (secretary 2005-2007, treasurer 2007-2009). A founding member of the Public Art Committee in Denton, he serves on the UNT Press Editorial Board and the CVAD Advisory Board, and is the immediate past chair of the UNT Library Advocacy Board.