Ronald B. Davis
*On this date in 1947, Ronald Davis was born. He was a Black teacher, businessman, and community activist.
From Jacksonville, Florida, Ronald Bernard Davis was the son of Dozier and Evelyn Joiner Davis. He had three brothers, Glenn, Robert, and Reginald. Davis was an excellent student as a teenager, graduated from Douglas Anderson High School in 1965, and played in the school band. He received his bachelor's degree from Florida A&M in 1969. Later that year, Davis was recruited to Minneapolis by Thelma Gorham of the Twin Cities Industrialization Opportunity Center. (TCIOC) to teach Black History with Mahmoud El-Kati.
In 1970 Davis married Sheri Davis, and the couple had one daughter, Kamarrie. He received his master’s degree in Secondary Education/Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1973. Also during the 1970s, Davis taught Social Studies in Junior and Senior High School in Minneapolis Public Schools, and from 1977 to 1979, he was interning assistant to the Superintendent of MPS.
During this time, Davis taught social studies and economics. He also developed a “Learning Center for Economics” and successfully sought out assistance from businesses for financial support. This endeavor forged partnerships with education and businesses. In the 1980s, Davis began working for Prudential Insurance Company. Some of his accounts were from various school districts. From there, Davis became Vice President for W.A. Lang Insurance. Business and Education partnerships were his forte’ which resulted in the construction of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, the Ronald B. Davis Community Center, and the Center for Lindbergh Athletic Center.
In 1980 he Chaired the board of the Hopkins School District. Soon after, he became the first Board Chair of the West Metro Education Program, a consortium of 11 school districts in Hennepin County. Davis was on the board of Operation DeNovo, a prison diversion program for youth, and the Alfred Adler Institute. The Minnesota School Board Association awarded Davis the All-State School Board Member Award in 2000. Ronald B. Davis died in 2001.
