ST. PHILIP’S COLLEGE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT TRIBUTE PROGRAM FOR PROFESSOR EMERITUS DR. WILLIAM CONAN DAVIS

His discoveries of the process for mashed potatoes, textures for frozen desserts have left global impacts

SAN ANTONIO (Oct. 23, 2009) --- St. Philip’s College announces an exciting tribute to Dr. William Conan Davis on the occasion of his retirement from the college. The tribute for the newly named Professor Emeritus of the Natural Science Department of St. Philip’s College is Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. in the Heritage Room of the Campus Center building at 1801 Martin Luther King Drive.

“I’ve had such a wonderful career and I owe that all to others,” Dr. Davis reflected during ceremonial remarks before the Alamo Community College District Board of Trustees Oct. 20. “This is my passion, teaching and to be of service,” Dr. Davis explained. “My philosophy has been to give and to serve,” said Dr. Davis.

The Alamo Community College District Board of Trustees announced Oct. 20 it has approved the renaming of the three-story Science Building at St. Philip’s College to the “William C. Davis Science Building” in recognition of Dr. Davis’ 26 years of service at St. Philip’s College that began in 1983, and for his lifelong commitments to the scientific community. The physical changing of the name on the building and in such college literature as printed schedules will take place at a later date, college officials announced Oct. 21.

“There are many ways to describe giants, and this gentleman is truly a giant and renown in his field,” said St. Philip’s College President Dr. Adena Williams Loston. “St. Philip’s College has been honored for his nearly three decades of service,” Dr. Loston said. “He has well earned this special recognition,” said Dr. Loston.

The Alamo Community College Board of Trustees also announced Oct. 20 it has approved naming Dr. Davis Professor Emeritus of the Natural Science Department of St. Philip’s College during the Alamo Community College District regular board meeting at the George E. Killen Community Education & Service Center.

Dr. William C. Davis accepted a round of tributes, thanks and recognition for his 26 years of service to the Alamo Colleges during the Alamo Community College District regular board meeting Sept. 15 at the George E. Killen Community Education & Service Center in September.

Respected by colleagues and students alike, the essential elements of Davis’ career have been education, empowerment and achievement. The college and the community have both enjoyed the prestige he brings due to his ability in his field, yet Davis serves his students first.

“I’m proudest of all of the students whose lives I have changed,” Dr. Davis said. “They write me letters and emails… ‘I wouldn’t have become a doctor or a nurse without your help,’ ” said Dr. Davis.

“My greatest satisfaction comes from teaching,” said Dr. Davis. “The students have responded to me by achieving their dreams. It’s not all about me. It’s more about their interactions with me,” Dr. Davis said with a humble smile.

Dr. Davis is best known for discovering a process for “instantizing” mashed potatoes and the sugar that gives frozen desserts their texture, according to the Oct. 20 minutes of the Alamo Community College Board of Trustees. While working on how to keep saws from gumming up when sawing wood, he was part of the team that discovered a wood sugar that is now used to produce industrial glue, the board reported. His present work is in hydrology, recombinant DNA, and fuel cell technology according to a biography published on Dr. Davis in the Fall-Spring 2009 Palo Alto Review.

Before coming to St. Philip’s College in 1983, Dr. Davis worked on projects such as standardizing blood tests making it possible to determine minute quantities of insulin and growth hormones and using radioimmunoassay to test the thyroxin in the bloodstream to determine the activity of the thyroid gland.

Dr. Davis retired from St. Philip’s College in August of 2009. He is a church musician, Lutheran lay minister, a Korean War veteran and a recipient of the Purple Heart. He has been invited to maintain an office space at St. Philip’s College where one of his post-retirement pursuits will be to compose his memoir. Photo 1 | Photo 2 (Images by Patrick Evans)

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1) St. Philip’s College
 

About St. Philip’s: Bishop James Steptoe Johnston of the St. Philip’s Episcopal Church of the West Texas Diocese founded St. Philip’s College in 1898. Today, St. Philip’s College, a member of the Alamo Colleges, is a multi-campus institution and serves a semester enrollment of more than 11,000 credit and more than 8,000 continuing education students. St. Philip’s College is a Historically Black College and Hispanic Serving Institution and is the only college in the nation that carries this dual designation. As “A Point of Pride in the Community,” St. Philip’s College is among the oldest and most diverse community colleges in the United States.