Lynn Davis

Background

About Lynn Davis

Lynn Davis was born in central Iowa, raised by his father and mother on a small farm with his two brothers and two sisters. He graduated from public high school marching alongside a dozen of his classmates who started kindergarten together. Davis took a gap year before attending Union College in Lincoln Nebraska as a first-generation student and graduated in five and a half years (taking a gap semester) with a B.S. in Art Education, K-12. Immediately after graduation, Lynn convinced Union College his services were needed to keep the art department, and multiple adjunct professors, operational. He was hired as a full-time lab instructor for all art classes, building superintendent, and supplies manager. Gradually, he began teaching to replace the adjuncts, adding one course each semester, until he was a full-time salaried Associate Professor of Art teaching twelve diverse courses, some on an alternating two-year cycle. Davis received a Master of Arts in Art Education from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and became fully tenured at Union College. During his initial tenure at Union College, he was instrumental in transitioning the Commercial Art offerings into a more modern, computer-driven, Graphic Design major. After spending fifteen years in the classroom, Davis took a four-year hiatus to be a stay-at-home dad, sharing his daughter’s early developmental stages. He served as a general contractor for his current home during this time. When preschool became apparent, he contracted back at Union College, this time as an adjunct himself. First, he taught only sculpture and pottery classes, but eventually added Administrative Assistant roles in both the Leadership Minor and the Honors Program. When his multiple, part-time, adjunct jobs became much more than full-time, Davis transitioned to a single full-time position as Office Manager for the college’s Teaching Learning Center (TLC). Three years later, his position transitioned to Office Manager of Student Success when a Title SIP grant merged the TLC with Career Services. With the five-year grant now approaching its fifth year, Davis enjoys his front desk, Office Manager position, greeting students and directing them to the resources of Student Success and managing the day-to-day operations of the center. He has recently found the opportunity to tap into the linear side of his brain by tracking the spending of the $2.1M grant and coming alongside his team to comply with the mandates of the grant and develop systems and processes to create successful students at his alma mater, Union College.