Biography

Terri Davis is Department Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science, and specializes in American Constitutional Law, Judicial Politics, and Administrative Law. She received a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies and a B. S. in Political Science from the University of Texas at Tyler. She currently serves Lamar as a pre-law academic advisor and has previously served as President of the Faculty Senate, Chair of the Arts and Sciences Council, and Interim Director of the Honors Program.

Dr. Davis has received numerous awards including Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, University Merit Award, Excellence in Teaching Award, Academic Advisor of the Year, Student Organization Advisor of the Year, and the Liberty Bell Award by the Jefferson County Bar Association. She has received national recognition for teaching excellence from the American Political Science Association, Pi Sigma Alpha, Who’s Who Among American Teachers, and Golden Key National Honor Society. In 2002-2003, she was a national semifinalist for Outstanding First-Year Advocate sponsored by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience. Her publications have appeared in numerous venues including Studies in Media and Communication, Open Journal of Political Science, Comparative Sociology, Urban Studies Research, Sage OPEN, Social Issues in America, Law and Politics Book Review, History of European Ideas, American Political Scientists: A Dictionary, and the Educational Resources Information Center.

Her most recent research on Texas history and government resulted in the publication of The Texas Constitution: The People, History, and Government of the Lone Star State, co-authored with Dr. James Nelson (Lamar Literary Press, 2017). Dr. Davis’ research has been presented at a number of national and regional conferences including those of the American Political Science Association, the Northeastern Political Science Association, the Southwestern Social Science Association, the Louisiana Political Science Association, and the Conference for the Study of European Ideas. She has served as an invited guest keynote speaker for a number of organizations including Humanities Texas, the State Bar of Texas, the Press Club of Southeast Texas, the American Business Women’s Association, Lamar Leadership Conference, Texas Academy for Leadership in the Humanities, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Pioneering Women.