Hello and welcome to the Donald W. Davis Symposium online, a website dedicated to the legacies of both Donald W. Davis Sr. and his son, Donald W. Davis, Jr.

    Donald W. Davis Sr., a prominent figure in the field of advertising, has played a major role in the development of the College of Communications at the Pennsylvania State University.

    Davis spent 17 years as an advertising manager and director before he decided to become a teacher in order to help make advertising an accepted form of academic discipline. After 19 years of being the only teacher of advertising at Penn State, his hard work paid off and the School of Journalism was organized in 1955.  Due to his persistence, Davis gained nationwide recognition for his many achievements, both on the professional and collegiate levels. His accomplishments were recognized in 1962, as he was the 27th inductee to the Advertising Hall of Fame.
 
    Davis’s legacy continues to this day at Penn State through the Donald W. Davis Sr. Advertising Laboratory and the Honors Grant in his name.  The Ad Lab, as students call it, was first proposed in 1987, by the faculty and the Dean of the School of Communications.  Its intention was to provide a highly equipped computer facility to enhance a top-notch advertising program.  The lab was named after Davis in memory of the years of hard work that he dedicated to both the field of advertising and his students at Penn State University.

    Davis’ son, Donald W. Davis Jr., provided an endowment fund to honor his father’s contributions to the former School of Journalism known today as the Department of Advertising and Public Relations in the College of Communications. The Donald W. Davis Honors Grant is open to junior advertising majors who best characterize the spirit of advertising practices, scholarship, character, and interest in the advertising profession.  It was derived from the Donald W. Davis Mass Communications Fund and has been distributed since 1990.  

    The Donald W. Davis Mass Communications Fund also sponsors the Donald Davis Symposium.  This event was created to provide an open forum for the discussion of ethical issues in the advertising profession.  The forum held in 1997 featured the late Edwin Diamond, political advertising professor at New York University and co-author of "The Spot: The Rise of Political Advertising on Television."

    Donald W. Davis Jr. retired from his position as CEO of Stanley Works in 1989 and currently teaches leadership and ethics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.   Mr. Davis resides in Hobe Sound, Fl. with his wife Virginia Cooper Davis.