F. Garvin Davenport to retire from Hamline

President Linda Hanson announced Thursday, November 10, that Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts F. Garvin Davenport has announced his plans to retire from Hamline University in June 2006, the end of the current academic year.

“There is no other person who embodies the mission and spirit of Hamline like Garvin,” Hanson said. “He has provided academic leadership, an enduring commitment to the liberal arts, and creative and strategic direction throughout his four decades of dedicated and exemplary service.”

Davenport’s leadership has touched every aspect of the university. In his forty-year career at Hamline, he has served as professor of English; chair of the English department; assistant, associate, and dean of the College of Liberal Arts; and finally as vice president of academic affairs, the university’s chief academic officer.

Davenport has been at the center of many notable innovations in the College of Liberal Arts. These include establishing the Hamline Writing Center, helping to develop the acclaimed Hamline Plan, assisting in the development of the first-year seminar program, the creation of the four-year assurance of graduation program, the All-College Reunion (which for the first time included faculty and staff), the full integration of the athletic and academic lives of our student athletes, the development of  several new international and interdisciplinary programs, the integration of appropriate technology into undergraduate teaching, and the initiation of the CLA Fall Fair celebration of learning and research.

He has also eloquently promoted the university and its faculty on countless occasions to prospective students, parents, alumni, board members, and friends of the university, most recently as the Master of Ceremonies at the inauguration of President Hanson.

Davenport was appointed to vice president in 2004, and he agreed to assist in the transition of presidents by serving a two-year term in that position. The two years will be completed in 2006. 

"Garvin has provided me invaluable support and counsel and I am profoundly grateful for his service during this presidential transition,” Hanson said.

Information regarding the search for the positions of vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College of Liberal Arts is forthcoming.

Hamline's College of Liberal Arts has steadily built its national reputation with an innovative curriculum and excellent, dedicated faculty.

Rigorous academics and innovative programs attract and challenge a diverse and talented student body in Hamline University’s undergraduate college, graduate schools, and law school. Guided by faculty who are leaders in their fields, Hamline’s nearly 4,400 students experience an intimate environment of small classes and personal attention along with the opportunities of a comprehensive university.

Ranked first in Minnesota among comprehensive universities by U.S.News and World Report, Hamline is also Minnesota’s first university, founded in 1854.