Davenports Give $3 Million To Colleges Of Science And Business Administration

October 11, 2001
University Park, Pa.—Penn State alumni Ronald R. and Judith Loftin Davenport of Pittsburgh have committed $3 million to be distributed equally between the Eberly College of Science and The Smeal College of Business Administration. Their gift will endow a faculty chair in each college.

Ronald Davenport is chairman and chief executive officer of Sheridan Broadcasting Corp., which owns radio stations in Pittsburgh and Buffalo and a radio network with more than 300 affiliates in 39 states. It is the largest African/American-owned communications network in the United States. Judith Davenport is a dentist, and co-founder and director of Sheridan Broadcasting Corp.

The Ronald Ross Davenport and Judith Loftin Davenport Chair in The Smeal College of Business Administration will be established in the area of marketing or finance. The Judith Loftin Davenport and Ronald Ross Davenport Chair in the Eberly College of Science will be established in the area of biological science.

The chairs will be used to attract and retain world class scholars to these appointments. Income from the endowments can be used for, but is not limited to, such purposes as salary supplements, research expenses, graduate assistantships, education and travel expenses, and support services for the chairs’ holders and their programs.

“Ron and Judith’s gift is noteworthy for several reasons, including the impact it will have in two distinctive areas within the university and the fact that it is the largest gift ever made by a minority couple or individual in the history of Penn State,” said Penn State President Graham Spanier. “We are so very grateful to them for the wonderful inspiration they are to all alumni.”

The Davenports are of one mind when it comes to Penn State.

“Penn State has been so important to us,” said Judith Davenport. “We wanted to give something back to the University. It was where we met, where we received our first degrees, and where everything started for us. As an African American alumna, I want other African American students and alumni to know how important we feel it is to support Penn State.”

Ron Davenport adds, “Penn State made it possible for me and my wife to do the things we are able to do. I want to encourage the development of scholarship, and to attract and reward the highest quality faculty. And I think it is important to show that people in our position have a responsibility to give.”

After graduating from Penn State in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Ronald Davenport went on to earn law degrees from Temple and Yale. In 1970, he was named dean of Duquesne University School of Law—one of the youngest law school deans in the country and the first African American law dean at a predominantly white law school. After 10 years as dean, he spent two years as a partner with Buchanan Ingersoll before assuming the helm at Sheridan Broadcasting.

He has served on numerous civic and corporate boards, including those with the U.S. Committee for Economic Development, National Chamber of Commerce, local and National Urban League, John Heinz History Center, Bell of Pennsylvania and Aramark Corp. Penn State honored him as an Alumni Fellow in 1974 and a Distinguished Alumnus in 1975.

Judith Davenport earned her bachelor’s degree from Penn State in 1961 in medical technology. She received a graduate degree in public health and a doctorate in dental medicine from the University of Pittsburgh. She has also served on many professional and civic boards, including the dental review board of Highmark Blue Shield and the Board of Visitors of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, as well as those affiliated with Carlow College, the Birmingham Foundation, Pittsburgh Public Theater, and the Carnegie Museum of Art.  She was honored by Penn State as a Distinguished Alumna in 1995 and an Alumni Fellow in 2001.

In previous philanthropy to Penn State, the Davenports endowed two undergraduate scholarships for minority students who have an interest in the sciences and in business. They were also major benefactors in the campaign to build the new Paul Robeson Cultural Center and to expand the Hetzel Union Building on the University Park campus.

* ls*

Contact: 
Mike Bezilla (814) 863-4512 (work) (814) 238-5842 (home) mxb13@psu.edu
Laura Stocker (814) 863-4512 (work) (814) 237-2013 (home) lstocker@psu.edu