Roger W. Davis

  • Earned bachelor's degree from KU School of Business, 1972

  • Emeritus member, former chair of KU School of Business Dean's Board of Advisors

  • KU School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, 2013

Roger Davis is the former CEO of Paxton/Patterson in Chicago, having first joined the company in 1980 as its general manager.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from the University of Kansas in 1972 and credits KU’s business faculty with making the single biggest difference in his career.

A loyal Jayhawk, Davis has been a member of the School of Business Dean’s Board of Advisors for more than 20 years, serving as board chair from 1996 through 1999. He received the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013.

Davis and his wife, Julie, continue to be generous donors to KU. In December 2015, the couple made a combined outright and planned gift commitment of $7.2 million to enable the School of Business to create the Davis Center for Figure Sense, which aims to teach students how to use complex data to make better business decisions.

“We think of ‘figure sense’ as the effectiveness with which people select and evaluate evidence before making a decision or taking action,” Davis said. “Strong figure sense requires a solid understanding of accounting, economics, finance and statistical analysis — and the ability to persuasively communicate recommendations and supporting evidence.”

The Davises also generously made a gift to establish the KU School of Business Wall of Honor, and in 2013, the couple donated $1.5 million, $1 million of which went toward the construction of Capitol Federal Hall.

In 2022, the Davises made a $1 million gift to establish the Davis Analytics, Information and Operations Management Area Director Professorship, honoring retired dean Tom Sarowski. Davis worked with Sarowski during his tenure as dean from 1995 to 2000. For three of those years, Davis was chair of the Dean’s Advisory Board.

“While Tom was not an academic, he brought extensive senior-level consulting industry leadership experience,” Davis said. “Tom laid the groundwork for a lot of progress in the School of Business. Being his board chair for three years, I learned so much from him, and I wanted to make sure he was recognized.”