Dr. Gregg Davidson
OXFORD, Miss. – When Gregg Davidson joined the UM Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, he was one of many new faculty looking to have immediate impact upon the direction of a program that at the time had experienced a large amount of turnover.
Seventeen years later, the department has grown from a modest size to one of the largest in the nation. And as its newest department chair, Davidson is looking to build on the solid foundation established by his predecessors.
“Dr. Joel Kuszmaul did a fine job as chair, and the faculty would have been happy to have him continue,” said Davidson, a graduate of Wheaton College and the University of Arizona. “He stepped down to focus on his research and to take on an associate dean role with the School of Engineering. I accepted the chair position after the department faculty asked me to take on the role, and I believe I have developed the skills to facilitate the corporate goals of the program.”
Davidson’s short- and long-term goals include expanding the instructional faculty to accommodate the department’s record enrollments and expanding research opportunities for its graduate students.
“Dr. Kuszmaul stepped down during a time of record undergraduate enrollment and brought us through our last accreditation review with commendation,” Davidson said. “He will be a hard act to follow.”
Davidson, who worked briefly as an environmental consultant before joining the UM faculty in 1996, turned down an offer at an internationally recognized program at New Mexico Tech in order to come to Ole Miss. He has had no regrets about his decision, he said.
“There were personal and professional reasons for doing so,” Davidson said. “On a personal level, Ole Miss was closer to family and had actual water flowing in stream channels (unlike the dry washes of NMT).”
When not overseeing the G& GE department, Davidson said he enjoys gardening and backpacking.
“My garden in late summer is the envy of the South Oaks neighborhood,” he said. “My most recent backpacking trip was in the Wind River, Wyo., with my CME sophomore son, Kevin. The metamorphic rocks were stunning!”
School of Engineering administrators said they are anticipating the department’s continued growth and success under Davidson’s leadership.
“Gregg and I have been colleagues for over 15 years and have seen the department grow from a modest size to its current, unprecedented size,” Kuszmaul said. “His contributions to our leadership have been abundant during that growth. I am pleased that he has agreed to his new role of leadership and look forward to working with him as our department chair.”
“Our undergraduate geological engineering program is now the largest in the nation,” said Dean Alex Cheng. “I am pleased that Dr. Davidson will continue the leadership with the momentum to bring the department to an even higher level of excellence.”