Mason Korea Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs, Dr. Shannon Davis, is to be recognized for her service to George Mason University through the 2023 David W. Rossell Quill Award.
The David W. Rossell Quill Award recognizes the exceptional leadership and dedication of its nominees, both within the realm of their normal duties and beyond. Recipients of this award have dedicated their time and expertise and put their students first, resulting in the advancement of the University's mission.
Dr. Davis is the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs at Mason Korea, where she is responsible for guiding and developing Mason Korea’s curricula, as well as advancing its student success and faculty excellence. Dr. Davis also serves as the Director of the Industry-University Collaboration Foundation (IUCF) and co-chairs the Mason Korea DEI Task Force and Implementation Team. She is also a Professor of Sociology in Mason’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), where she has been a faculty member since 2006.
Dr. Davis was nominated for the David W. Rossell Quill Award by Dr. Keith D. Renshaw, Department Chair and Professor of Psychology, and Dr. Melissa A. Broeckelman-Post, Professor of Communication and Faculty Senate Chair at Mason.
Prior to joining Mason Korea, Dr. Davis served as chair of Mason’s Faculty Senate, and served as co-chair of Mason’s 2019-20 Presidential Search Committee, the first faculty member to do so in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
“I chose to join the faculty at Mason because, as a first generation college graduate, the mission of providing access to educational opportunities to all resonated with me,” said Dr. Davis. “Working to expand those opportunities for students, faculty, and staff is what Mason does, and what I hope to do every day. It is an honor to be recognized for my efforts to support others at this institution.”
Dr. Davis will be publicly recognized at the Outstanding Achievement Awards Ceremony that will be held at the Fairfax campus on April 25. These Awards celebrate the hard work, dedication and achievements of Mason’s faculty and staff across several awards categories and support Mason’s values and mission.
The ceremony will also be live-streamed by GMU-TV; the link to watch the ceremony will be posted on the Outstanding Achievement Awards website.
Dr. Davis was the first faculty member at Mason to co-chair a Presidential Search Committee, while also leading the Senate. During her two years as Faculty Senate Chair, Dr. Davis led the university through a transition to an Interim President and a Presidential Search. Just a month after the conclusion of that search, the COVID-19 pandemic upended Mason’s operations. Once again, Dr. Davis stepped up, serving on countless committees and task forces, her leadership once again proving essential in guiding the faculty through the pandemic. When one considers all that she had done up to that point, one might expect that she might have retreated after that to return to standard faculty activity in 2021. But Dr. Davis’s devotion to Mason would not allow that. Instead, she sought to step into the role of Senior Associate Dean at Mason Korea, moving herself and her family across the globe to help Mason’s Korea campus seize opportunities at an important inflection point for the campus. While I am sure she minimizes her own role in the successes there (as that is her norm), the campus is flourishing in no small part due to her excellent leadership.
April 09, 2023
