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Dr. Greggory Davis is a 2020 recipient of the Outstanding Master’s Mentor Award. This award is presented to members of the graduate faculty with an exceptional record of fostering the academic and professional development of graduate students, particularly for graduate students in the master’s degree program.

Dr. Davis currently serves as the director of the School of Kinesiology. He joined the faculty at UL Lafayette in 2013, and previously served as the graduate program coordinator for the Kinesiology MS program.

To date, he has chaired six master’s thesis committees and served on the committees for an additional eight students.

Dr. Davis researches how metabolic, immune, and endocrine responses are affected by exercise and dietary supplement interventions, and how the implications of these findings may enhance exercise performance and health outcomes.

He is often asked to serve on committees outside of his area of research expertise due to his capability as a mentor.

“He cares about each of the students and what they are interested in or working on, regardless of their concentration. Dr. Davis clearly goes the extra mile for his graduate students,” Dr. Jeremy Foreman, graduate coordinator for the School, says.

Dr. Davis has taken students to conferences to present research and has published research with his graduate students.

His commitment to graduate students has only increased since being appointed as the director of the School.

“Over the past year in particular he has devoted countless hours providing individual attention to students that he mentors while training and supervising them in the lab, discussing research with them, listening to their concerns as graduate students, and teaching them in independent study coursework,” says Dr. Nathan Roberts, dean of the College of Education. 

Behind the scenes, Dr. Davis has worked on a number of initiatives to support graduate student success, including improvements to the curriculum and refinements to the program’s graduate student handbook.

Dr. Davis’s mentorship often extends beyond graduation, as alumni of the program have been known to return to him for career or educational advice. 

He stresses the importance of requesting feedback from students and actively listening to their perspectives.

“The demands and perspectives of students will undoubtedly evolve over the years and therefore, the manner in which I mentor graduate students must continue to evolve as well,” he reflects.

“The feedback I have received has shaped the philosophy that I have today and as that feedback continues to change throughout the years, my philosophy will adapt along with those changes.”