Lynn Davis receives Staff Career Achievement Award
Lynn Davis, a retired communications director for the College of Natural Resources and Environment, has received the university’s 2018 Staff Career Achievement Award.
Davis retired from the university in 2017 after 24 years of service.
Created in 2011 to recognize retiring staff members, the Staff Career Achievement Award is presented annually to individuals who retired the previous year and who distinguished themselves through exemplary performance and service during their university career. Nominees must have worked a minimum of 10 years at Virginia Tech. Each recipient is awarded a $1,000 cash prize.
Davis was the longest serving college communicator on the campus, and over her years of service, used her extensive network to benefit the college and Virginia Tech. She also served on many boards and commissions and volunteered her efforts and time. She had a lifelong engagement with community and state organizations.
One of Davis’ major career accomplishments was winning the bid for Virginia Tech and the college to host the 2008 Society of Environmental Journalists Conference. She spent two years preparing the program and raising $200,000. More than 900 environmental journalists from the media, nongovernmental organizations, government agencies, and other groups attended the weeklong program at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, and Virginia Tech was put on their map.
Another significant contribution was the strategic role Davis played as a member of the dean’s leadership when the college was changing names and staking out a new future. She was integral to the college rebranding, which culminated in the department’s platform, Advancing the Science of Sustainability.
“I trusted Lynn’s engagement at all levels of the institution and with external partners. She was the consummate professional in all ways. To our faculty and students, she was a mentor in helping faculty develop the ability to get their story out, and to our students and the many student interns she supervised, she brought a true 'teaching/caring/professional development' perspective to her daily interactions,” wrote Charles Phlegar, vice president for advancement, in a letter of nomination.
Davis’ career, prior to joining Virginia Tech and throughout her time with the university, was marked by a lifelong story of service, engagement, communication, and strategic partnerships, embodied the spirit of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).
