Chuck Davis Honored as Distinguished Alumni at Hardin-Simmons University

ABILENE, TX (10/26/2011)(readMedia)-- Chuck Davis of Whitesboro, Texas, has been named a distingushed alumni of Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. Davis was given this honor at the school's homecoming, October 21 - 23, 2011.

In June 1999, Chuck Davis joined the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer. During his career, he has served in Hong Kong, China; Beijing, China; London, Great Britain; Amman, Jordan; and Singapore, Southeast Asia.

He has held positions in political and economic affairs, consular affairs, management, and served as the deputy director of the Iraq Support Unit in Amman, Jordan, providing critical support for the U.S. Government in Iraq in 2007-2008. He currently works in management at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Chuck graduated cum laude from Hardin Simmons University in 1984, with a BM in music education. In 1988 he worked on an MBA at the University of North Texas, and in 1992 Chuck earned an MDiv in Biblical Languages and Theology from Southwestern Baptist Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, graduating magna cum laude.

In 2005, Chuck assisted American citizens in the aftermath of the London Underground terrorist bombings, and in 2006 aided in the evacuation of more than 14,000 Americans from Lebanon, resulting from the Israeli invasion against Hezbollah.

Chuck coordinated President Bill Clinton's visit to Vietnam in 2000. When President George W. Bush visited Singapore in 2003, and when President Barack Obama flew to Singapore in 2009, Chuck coordinated those visits as well.

Chuck worked in London as chief of the Passport & Citizenship Unit from 2004-2007, he was a general services officer in Beijing from 2002-2004, and was on Foreign Service assignment in Hong Kong as the Consular/Political-Economic rotational officer in 2000-2002.

Before his career in Foreign Service, Chuck worked for the Baptist General Convention of Texas as the Baptist student ministries director from 1989 to 1999. While at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, he worked with BGCT to establish, fund, and coordinate international relief projects for Texas medical students and faculty, and provided health care and education to people in remote and impoverished regions of Mexico and Central America from 1995 to 1999.

Chuck was the BGCT minister and counselor to medical and allied health care students at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas from 1989-1992, working on campuses in both Dallas and Galveston.

A native Texan, Chuck grew up in Whitesboro, Texas, north of Dallas near the Oklahoma state line. In high school, he served on the student council for four years, and was elected president of the student body his senior year. He participated in sports, and was selected for the Texas All-State Symphonic Band during the 1975-76 school year.

At HSU, Chuck was active in Phi Mu Alpha-Sinfonia, Alpha Chi, Baptist Student Ministries, and a member of the "World Famous" Cowboy Band. He participated in All-School SING in 1981, and performed in the School of Music Honors Concert in1983. He was a member of the Baptist Student Union Executive Council from 1982-83, and was a BSU summer missionary to Morocco in 1982. Chuck was also a part of the Cowboy Band European Tour in 1984.

Davis has been married for 28 years to HSU alumna Elaine Joy Martin who graduated in 1983. She is an Abilene native, the daughter of Canadian parents, and a licensed social worker. They have two children, Daniel, 19, a sophomore at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois; and Allison, 16, a junior attending the American International School of Israel.

About Hardin-Simmons:

HSU has an enrollment of approximately 2,300 undergrad and graduate students from 29 states and 19 countries.

HSU has a 13:1 student faculty ratio with a campus that sits on 209 acres. Seventy-nine percent of HSU's faculty hold the highest degree in their field.

The university is named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best universities in the western region of the United States and is listed by The Princeton Review as a Top Ten Best in the West University. It is a member of the Colleges of Distinction, and the Chronicle of Higher Education named it to their honor roll as a "Great College to Work For."

Seven undergraduate degrees encompass 70 major fields including: athletic training, criminal justice, social work, counseling, psychology, molecular biology, biochemistry, environmental science, religion, music, art, teaching, history, communications, English, and sociology.Ten graduate degrees include the Doctor of Ministry and the Doctor of Physical Therapy.

International study programs include England, Austria, Hong Kong, Spain, and Australia.

Hardin-Simmons University, founded in 1891, is a private Christian institution, and has been affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists) since 1941.