University of the South - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Sewanee, TN)

Page 19 text:

D I II I A I i ROY BENTON DAVIS B.A., M.A. F. B. WILLIAMS PROFESSOR ol Chemistry For thirty-eight years a Sewanee man! Such is the record of the University ' s senior pro- fessor, Roy Benton Davis, head of the chemistry department since 1918. Mr. Davis had come to Sewanee in 1917 from Washington, where he had worked with the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. His job had been to locate chemists in uniform and place them in appropriate research laboratories. Chemistry as a career did not particularly occur to Mr. Davis until his freshman year at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, in 1908. He credits his teacher. Dr. Harry N. Holmes, with inspiring his interest to the extent that he went on for his master ' s degree at the Uni- versity of Missouri. Devoted to his work and especially interested in organic chemistry, in which he is currently authoring a textbook, Mr. Davis often works a nineteen-hour day. He likes to be in his office in Science Hall by 7 a.m. He explains, however, that this really de- pends on when the milkman comes. Sometimes his office lights don ' t go out until 2 a.m., as he types class notes, studies chemical journals, or checks papers. A great believer in a sound liberal arts background, Mr. Davis always requires his stu- dents to take three to four years of languages, and a generous amount of English, phi- losophy, and social sciences. He holds a deep faith in God, and the compatibility of the idea of God with today ' s concepts of science has often been the subject of bull sessions in the chemistry library. Mr. Davis encourages his students to use their minds, not just their memories, and empha- sizes the building of resourcefulness and independence as much or more than scholastic proficiency. He Virants his boys to obtain the best training possible. Although his standards are high for his students, they are always higher for himself. Mr. Davis ' reputation as a teacher is such that his recommendation at graduate schools is usually tantamount to acceptance. At the presentation of the Leon P. Smith Award by the Crucible Club of Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia, in 1942, it was said of Mr. Davis: He is loved and respected by all his students who have received from him training in the art of inde- pendent thinking and action. Typical of the respect and admiration held by former students for Mr. Davis is this remark by Dr. Henry F. Johnstone, ' 23, now professor of chemical engineering at the University of Illinois: 1 have been associated with a great many teachers of chemistry, and there is no doubt in my mind that Professor Davis is one of the finest of all. Mr. Davis browses through the departmental library Tho proiessor works on his forthcoming textbook in his Science Hall office 15