Rebecca M. Davis

Prof. Davis joined Georgia Southern University in 1994 and retired in 2020.

— Biography from the 2020 Fall Commencement program —

Professor Davis received her Bachelor of Science in Journalism (1987) and her Master of Arts in Political Science (1989) from Georgia Southern College. In 1992, she earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia. Joining the faculty of Georgia Southern University in 1994, she was an early adopter of technology-enhanced education and was awarded numerous grants to establish and upgrade technology in the classroom. Among one of the first faculty to develop and offer courses online, Professor Davis also became an expert in website coding and was awarded a grant from the Administrative Office of the Courts to create websites for the state judicial system in southeast Georgia. After serving as an informal pre-law advisor for eight years, Professor Davis procured funding for and established the Office of Pre-Law Advising, for which she won the 2004 College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Award of Distinction in Service. She served as the director of the Office of Pre-Law Advising for 17 years, during which time Georgia Southern’s law school applicants more than doubled their acceptance rate. In addition her many service contributions, Professor Davis authored one book, Justice Leah Ward Sears: Seizing Serendipity (University of Georgia Press), co-authored another, Judge Faye Sanders Martin: Head Full of Sense, Heart Full of Gold (Mercer University Press), and published numerous articles and a book chapter. For these and many other distinguished contributions to the department, college, University, and profession, Professor Rebecca Davis has earned the title of Associate Professor Emerita of Criminal Justice and Criminology.*