UIS founding faculty member Cullom Davis honored for Outstanding Advocate Leadership

The University of Illinois Foundation today announces Cullom Davis, professor emeritus of history at the University of Illinois Springfield, as the winner of the 2014 William E. Winter Award for Outstanding Advocate Leadership.

The award will be presented at the UIS Celebration of Philanthropy on May 20, 2014. The U of I Foundation is the fundraising arm of the University of Illinois and its three campuses.

The William E. Winter Award, named for the CEO Emeritus of the 7-Up Company and a longtime member of the University of Illinois Foundation Board of Directors, celebrates individuals who play active roles in securing private support for the University of Illinois.

Davis is a founding faculty member of Sangamon State University (now UIS). A strong campus advocate and fundraiser, he brought significant gifts to UIS for Brookens Library, the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, WUIS, and other programs.

"It has been my privilege to serve and then support the University of Illinois Springfield," said Davis. "Present at its origins (as SSU) in 1970, I embraced the student-centered education, the public affairs mission, and its early determination to make Brookens Library the physical and intellectual center of our campus. Whatever I have accomplished pales in comparison with the rewards I have enjoyed."

While a professor, Davis created and directed the University's Oral History Office and helped design its M.A. program in public history. Following his retirement from teaching in 1995, he continued serving as director and senior editor of the Lincoln Legal Papers (which later became the Papers of Abraham Lincoln), a position he held from 1988 to 2000.

"Dr. Cullom Davis has our highest praise and thanks for his many years of service to UIS," said Jeff Lorber, vice chancellor for development at UIS. "He has been a great encouragement and a source of excellent advice.”

Past recipients of the William E. Winter Award include Bob Clary, Leonard Branson, Thom Serafin, Tom Marantz, Julie Kellner, Guerry L. Suggs and Michelle M. Suggs (deceased); Howard C. Humphrey (deceased), James Lundquist (deceased), and Clifford L. Greenwalt.

For more information, contact Jeff Lorber at 217/206-7822 or jlorber@uis.edu.