Community mourns Davis’ passing

 

On April 23, Kathryn Wasserman Davis passed away at the age of 106.  With her passing, the College, Language Schools and Monterey Institute of International Studies lost a key leader and source of inspiration.

One of the world’s foremost agents of peace, Davis’ life work left an indelible trace on the international community. From her early years travelling the world as a college and graduate student, Davis procured a desire to explore and understand different cultures. She most notably developed a strong affection for Russia after a visit to the country in 1929. Enchanted with the sights, sounds and diverse cultural history of the nation, Davis stayed attached to Russia throughout her entire life. Both the College’s Russian Language School and the Center for Eurasian and Russian Studies are now named for Davis and her husband, Shelby C. Davis, respectively, due to their generous donations and passionate involvement.

“Mrs. Davis challenged today’s students to work effectively toward lasting peace in the world,” wrote President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in an e-mail to the entire student body.

Davis’s generosity, however, spread far beyond the realm of Russian studies.  In 2006, on her 100th birthday, Davis founded “100 Projects for Peace,” a scholarship that gives students the agency to pursue their own peace-building projects around the world.

The program will continue for its seventh summer this year. Additionally, Davis made an impressive impact on the language program by founding The Kathryn Davis Fellowships for Peace: Investing in the Study of Critical Languages. Through these fellowships, students can earn full scholarships to study at the College’s schools of Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hebrew, Japanese and Portuguese.

The scholarships, in addition to her generous donations to various peace-building and education initiatives, earned Davis considerable recognition. She was the recipient of both the 2006 Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, and the EastWest Institute’s 2006 Peace and Conflict Prevention Award in Potsdam.

Her effect on the college community will not be lost in her absence.  In the past seven years, 13 different project grants and numerous language school scholarships have been granted to students at the College. Davis’s name and legacy shall remain a central aspect of the College’s identity moving into the future.