Dennis Davis is Cabinet Secretary for the West Virginia Department of Veterans Assistance. Governor

Jim Justice James Conley Justice II (born April 27, 1951) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 36th governor of West Virginia since 2017. Justice had a net worth of $1.2 billion in September 2018, making him the wealthiest person ...

appointed Davis to the position at the start of his first term of governor in 2017.

Early life

Dennis Davis is a lifelong resident of

Institute, West Virginia Institute is an unincorporated community on the Kanawha River in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Interstate 64 and West Virginia Route 25 pass by the community, which has grown to intermingle with nearby Dunbar. As of 2018, the commu ...

. After attending public schools in

Kanawha County Kanawha County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 180,745, making it West Virginia's most populous county. The county seat is Charlest ...

, Davis attended

West Virginia State University West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute, it is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges and universities ...

and

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

earning degrees in industrial arts education, and vocational, technical and adult education.

Military career

In 1959, Davis began his military activity as a member of the West Virginia State University ROTC program. His U.S. Army career included stints at Fort Knox, Kentucky and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In 1965, he graduated from the Non-Commissioned Officers Academy. Davis has been a member of the honor guard at the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Institute, since 2012.

Education career

An educator, Davis began his career as a teacher at Dupont Junior High School in 1968. Davis went on to become Job Placement Specialist at the Ben Franklin Career Center, Coordinator of Adult Education at the Garnet Career Center, Coordinator of Cooperative Education and finally Assistant Superintendent of Kanawha County Schools for Vocational, Technical and Adult Education. Davis spent 29 years with the school system. Davis was elected president of the West Virginia Vocational Association and chairman of the Bylaws Committee for the American Vocational Association.

Previous Political Appointments

In 1996, Governor Cecil Under Underwood appointed Davis as Executive Director of Workforce Development for West Virginia, where he served for 4 years. In 2013, Davis served briefly as a member of the Kanawha County Board of education, filling a previous member's unexpired term.

Personal life

Davis founded the Davis Property Preservation Company and retired from this work in 2009. Davis lives in Institute, West Virginia with his wife Margaret. The two have five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Dennis 1941 births Living people People from Institute, West Virginia Politicians from Charleston, West Virginia West Virginia State University alumni Marshall University alumni Schoolteachers from West Virginia