Honors Academy names associate director
Associate Professor of Biology Jason Davis has been named associate director of Radford University’s Honors Academy.
Davis will join Director Niels Christenson to lead the high impact program that includes more than 250 students representing all six of RU’s colleges and all academic classes.
“Jason is a most creative young faculty member who is willing to take risks in his teaching and programming,” said Christensen, who took the Honors Academy helm in August. “Everything he does is geared toward developing an amazing educational experience for our undergraduate students.”
As associate director, Davis will assist with advising, program development and outreach to faculty on behalf of the academy and its students.
“Honors academy students are not just 4.0 students,” Christensen said. “They are thinking big about their education and looking to make an impact on their communities. They are taking risks by studying abroad, making professional presentations on their own research or leading in some way.”
To graduate from the Honors Academy as a Highlander Scholar, students must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average and complete at least 27 hours of honors work and an honors capstone project. They also must fulfill other obligations by engaging in honors contracts, independent study, study abroad or upper-level honors seminars.
“I’m extremely enthusiastic about this opportunity to work more closely with the students and faculty of the Honors Academy,” Davis said. “In many ways the Honors Academy is emblematic of all the best things we do here – community, scholarship, service and being excited by discovery.”
Davis and Assistant Professor of Biology Joy Caughron recently led 13 undergraduate student researchers from the University on the Radford Amazon Research Expedition (RARE), an intensive three-week Maymester academic adventure. Davis has also been instrumental in development of the Scholarly Outreach and Research Engagement (SC.O.R.E.) program that assists undergraduate students from all academic disciplines in developing and producing multimedia products that showcase their original scholarship and research.
"Dr. Davis is an accomplished teacher-scholar who brings a depth of experience in honors education to this position," said Assistant Provost of Academic Programs Jeanne Mekolichick. "His innovative and interdisciplinary approach to both teaching and research will serve as a valuable model for our honors students and enrich our honors program."