Shelby M. C. Davis ’54 GP’06 ’07 ’15 ’18

Shelby M.C. Davis ’54 GP’06 ’07 ’15 ’18 is a prominent philanthropist who has supported numerous environmental and educational institutions around the world. In 1969, he founded Davis Advisors, an independent, employee-owned investment management company, after serving as head of equity research at Bank of New York, where he was the bank’s youngest vice president since its founding by Alexander Hamilton in 1784. Shelby is chair of the Charitable Fund and president of the S & G Foundation.

Shelby entered Lawrenceville as a Third Former in 1951 and lived in Kennedy and Upper Houses. He competed in tennis, participated in Periwig and Herodotus, and was assistant editor of The Lawrence and associate editor of the Olla Podrida. He graduated Cum Laude and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in history from in 1958. Shelby has received numerous honorary degrees, most recently from Colorado College in 2016.

In 2000, Shelby established the Davis United World College Scholars program, which provides an open-ended grant to meet the full financial need of each United World College student attending a participating university. The United World Colleges are a confederation of seventeen upper-level secondary schools located throughout the world, including Lawrenceville. The scholarship program began with partnerships at five colleges – Colby College, College of the Atlantic, , Princeton University, and – and has since grown to become the largest international scholarship program for undergraduates in the world, having supported more than 8,500 scholars from 159 nations at 95 partner colleges and universities across the .

In 2008, Shelby expanded his United World College Scholars program to a select group of independent secondary schools in response to a proposal from Lawrenceville. Since its inception the Davis Scholars program has supported 219 students from underrepresented countries in an effort to enhance the global and economic diversity at American boarding schools. In addition to Lawrenceville, current participant schools include Emma Willard, Milton Academy, Phillips Andover, Taft and Westminster (Connecticut). This scholarship program has provided scholarships for over 60 Lawrentians, including 14 current students at Lawrenceville.

Shelby is the son of former Lawrenceville Trustee The Hon. Shelby Cullom Davis ’26 P’54 and Kathryn Wasserman Davis P’54, and the grandfather of four Lawrentians: Willoughby Bain Laycock ’06, Ian Bain ’07, Genevieve Davis ’15 and Kathryn Davis ’18. Shelby lives in Hobe Sound, , and Wilson, Wyoming, with his wife Gale.

The Lawrenceville Medal

The Lawrenceville Medal, the highest honor the School may grant, is conferred upon an alumnus or alumna who has demonstrated “brilliant, life-long work in a significant field of endeavor.” The Medal is dedicated to the memory of Aldo Leopold ’05, the distinguished environmentalist and author, and is awarded annually by the Alumni Association at the Aldo Leopold Dinner.

1991 James Merrill ’43 2005 Ricardo R. Maduro ’63 1992 Robert F. Goheen ’36 2006 V. Paul Moravec, Jr. ’75 1993 Frederick Buechner ’43 2007 J. Harvie Wilkinson III ’63 1994 John B. Oakes ’30 2008 Butler W. Lampson ’60 P’90 1995 John N. Irwin II ’33 P’72 2009 Michael D. Eisner ’60 1996 Philip H. Jordan, Jr. ’50 P’85 ’90 2010 Charles C.J. Carpenter ’48 1997 Peter Lawson-Johnston ’45 2011 Wayne W. Meisel ’78 1998 Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. ’43 2012 Hugh A. Cregg III ’67 1999 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. ’36 2013 Robert P. Ryan ’64 2000 F. M. Kirby