About
Bill Davenport
Bill Davenport grew up in Corinth, MS, graduated from Corinth High School (’65) and attended the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford, MS, where he received an B.S. in Biology (’69) and an M.S. in Biology (’71). After a year as Instructor of Biology at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR, he entered the Ph.D. program in the Department of Anatomy at the Medical College of Georgia, in Augusta, GA – home of the Master’s Golf Tournament. After completing his graduate study, in 1975,he accepted a position as Instructor in Anatomy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. In 1977 he was promoted to Assistant Professor of Anatomy. He joined the faculty at LSU School of Dentistry in 1982 as Assistant Professor of Oral Pathology, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anatomy, and Director of the Research Histology Laboratory. In 1987 he was promoted to Associate Professor and in 1995 was appointed Coordinator of Support Technologies. Under the umbrella of this administrative title he managed the Division of Learning Resources and the Dental Division of Computer Services. While at LSU he served on over 20 Dental School, LSU Medical Center Wide, and State Committees.
Bill was awarded Outstanding Teaching Awards by the students at the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry and at LSU School of Dentistry. He is an honorary member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon (national Dental honorary) and the C. Edmund Kells Society (LSU Dental honorary). He was awarded a National Endowment Fellowship in 1979 and studied in the Department of History of Health Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. He was also awarded the Gies/AADS Educational Fellowship in 1995 and spent three months in residence in the Division of Educational Affairs at the American Dental Education Association office in Washington, DC.
As an undergraduate at Ole Miss, Bill was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon and served that chapter (Mississippi Alpha) as Controller (treasurer) for three and one-half years. He has been an active alumnus, having served as District Governor for the Chapters in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. He also served on the National Committee on Ritual Education. He has served as an alumni board member for the chapters at Mississippi State University, University of Mississippi, Loyola University New Orleans, Tulane University, University of New Orleans, and Arkansas State University. He was a founding member and president of the Alumni Greek Council at Tulane University. He also served on the Provost’s Select Committee to Study Greek Life at Tulane University, Chapter Counselor for the Louisiana Alpha Chapter at Tulane University and Vice President of their Alumni Housing Corporation. He also served on the Tulane University Neighborhood Relations Committee.
In September 2002 Bill officially retired from LSU and joined the faculty of the new School of Dental Medicine at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, effective September 1, 2002. He is Professor (with Tenure) of Biomedical Sciences and serves administratively as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The move went smoothly and he is now living in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas – actually the second largest city in Nevada and second largest growing city in the country. This has been a busy and exciting time but things are progressing well.
Currently at UNLV School of Dental Medicine, he serves on the Academic Performance Committee, the Curriculum Committee, the Technology Advisory Committee, the UNLV Campus Senate Community Affairs Committee. From 2002-2004 he served on the Greek Life Advisory Committee. He is a course director of many courses in the pre-doctoral and postgraduate programs. He served as a Test Constructor for Dental National Board Exams Part I – Anatomy and he Dental Hygiene Component B committee. He is presently a Consultant to the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) for Basic Sciences and Research fpr Pre-Doctoral programs. He has served on site visit teams to such institutions at the University of Oklahoma, Loma Linda, Harvard, Southern Illinois University, Baylor College of Dentistry, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, and most recently the University of Puerto Rico. He was elected to the Administrative Board of the Council of Sections of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) at the 2005 Annual Session.
Hobbies and activities include tennis, racquetball, golf, travel, movies and entertainment, and cooking.