Ollie Watts Davis is Associate Professor of Music and Conductor
of the Black Chorus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
A native of West Virginia, Dr. Davis graduated from West Virginia
Institute of Technology (magna cum Laude), where she was named
the 1993 Alumna of the Year. She earned the Master of Arts degree
from West Virginia University at Morgantown and both the Master
of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the University
of Illinois. Dr. Davis is the Founding Director of the Black Sacred
Music Symposium held biennially at the U of I.
Dr. Davis has won numerous awards and honors, including membership
in the Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society; honorary membership in
Sigma Alpha Iota and the National Arts and Letters Society; and
the Krannert Center Debut Recital Award. In 1993, Dr. Davis received
a Faculty Excellence Award from the U of I College of Fine and
Applied Arts, and in 1994 was awarded the Bronze Medallion of
Honor by the U of I Women's Association. Dr. Davis was recognized
as a woman who "through example and/or service...has used
her talents to enrich the lives of others." In 1998 Dr. Davis
was selected to receive the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Campus Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, in 1999
she received the Gospel Music Excellence Award at the National
Black Gospel College Choir Workshop and also in 1999 KJAC Publishing
released her book, Talks My Mother Never Had With Me (Helping
the Young Female Transition to Womanhood).
Active as a performing artist, soprano Ollie Watts Davis made
her New York debut at Carnegie Hall and has appeared throughout
North and South America and in Europe with major orchestras and
opera companies. She has also performed at the West Virginia Governor's
Mansion on the Arts and Letters Series and as guest artist for
the Governor's Inaugural Ceremony.
Dr. Davis is also very active in her community and in Christian
ministry. She has served on the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Board
of Directors; volunteered as the musical conductor for empty tomb's
Christian Children's Concert; and has served on the planning committee
for the Don Moyer's Boys and Girls Club Steak and Steak Dinner.
Dr. Davis is also involved with the Talks Mentoring Movement.
She wrote the secondary school curriculum and mentored at Edison
Middle School. She currently mentors at Stratton Elementary School.
Dr. Davis serves as the Youth Music Director at Canaan Missionary
Baptist Church of Urbana, Illinois, where she also is a member
of the Women's Discipleship Class; the S.W.A.T. (Soul-Winning
Action Team); and P.A.C.E. Discipleship ministry (People Available
to Contact and Encourage). Dr. Davis is in demand as an inspirational
and motivational speaker. She frequently conducts retreats and
seminars for women and along with her husband, Rev. Dr. Harold
Davis, for married couples.
Dr. Davis lives in Champaign with her husband and their four children.
Ollie
Watts Davis
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denotes original charter members of the Champaign County Section
of the National Council of Negro Women.