Board of Trustee Nan Davis Honored by Austin College and TACAC

Nan Davis, Austin College’s vice president for Institutional Enrollment, was presented the Homer P. Rainey Award for Outstanding Achievement and Service to Austin College at the annual Honors Convocation April 25 on campus.

The Homer P. Rainey Award is awarded annually by the Board of Trustees to an Austin College faculty or staff member in honor of the legacy of Rainey, a 1919 graduate who served as a faculty member and president of several U.S. colleges. The Rainey Award is the highest honor a faculty or staff member may receive at the College.

Announcing the award, Austin College President Steven P. O’Day, said that Davis has been an integral part of Austin College and of the Senior Leadership team for the past 20 years.

“The results of much of Nan’s work is readily apparent, and, as you know, the largest incoming class in the College’s history enrolled this past fall,” he told the audience of faculty, students, and guests assembled. “This is thanks, in part, to Nan’s guidance and careful overview of our financial aid matrix. Another numeric marker in the recruitment world is “number of applications received. In Nan’s first recruiting year on campus, the number of applications barely reached 1,000. This year that number hit 4,300!”

Commenting on Davis’s professional mentoring to counselors and students around the country, the president brought his thoughts closer to home. “Nan also guides her staff and has built a tremendous team,” he said. “She is quick to share victories and to promote their growth and advancement. Everyone who knows Nan recognizes the professionalism with which she goes about her work, the graciousness with which she lives her life, and the warmth with which she surrounds everyone around her. Please join me in congratulating this year’s recipient of the Homer P. Rainey Award.”

Davis’s mentoring also gained her recognition from the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling (TACAC) as the recipient of their 2019 Mentorship Award at the group’s annual conference. Previously, Davis received their Honorary Lifetime Member Award in recognition of “inspired leadership and extraordinary service to students in the college admission process” as well as the Founders’ Award for “members whose contributions to the Association and the profession are exemplary of exceptional talent and devotion to students.”

In addition, Davis has been very involved in professional work through the College Board, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting excellence and equity in education through a membership of more than 6,000 of the world’s leading educational institutions. She has served in numerous leadership roles for the College Board, including chair of the Southwestern Regional Council, as well as election to the National CSS/Financial Assistance Assembly Council and the National Counseling and Admission Assembly Council.  In recognition of her professional service and positive impact on the college admission profession, the College Board awarded her the You Make a Difference Award in 2007 and the Excellence in Service Award in 2013.  In 2015, Davis was elected and currently serves as a Trustee on the 31-member governing board of The College Board. 

Jim Montoya, College Board’s Chief of Membership, Governance, and Global Higher Education and Secretary of the Corporation, spoke fondly of Davis while at her retirement party earlier this month.

“Nan is beloved at Austin College for the highly diverse and academically talented students she has enrolled at Austin College over the past two decades.  The mentorship she has so generously offered to the admission profession over her career was also celebrated at her retirement party on May 2, hosted by Austin College president, Steven O’Day.”