Robert W. Davis
Robert W. Davis
Robert W. Davis retired from the Chevron Corporation in 1989. He spent the final eight years of his career as president and chief executive officer of Chevron Chemical Company and vice president of Chevron Corporation.
After graduating high school in 1942, Davis entered the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the Army Specialized Training Program, beginning his studies in chemical engineering at what is now NMSU. He later advanced to Texas A&M University to specialize in mechanical engineering.
His studies were interrupted in 1944 when he was transferred to the 99th Infantry Division and deployed to Europe to support the Allied advance across France and into Germany. Davis was wounded and captured during the Battle of the Bulge on December 16, 1944, and was liberated on May 3, 1945.
After his discharge, Davis returned to NMSU and earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering (1949) with honors. He then earned an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1950).
In 1951, he joined the California Research Corporation, a subsidiary of Standard Oil of California (later Chevron), conducting research primarily in refining technologies.
Davis later became a principal at Davis Associates, a management consulting firm, and remained active in numerous industry and academic organizations.
On October 28, 2005, Davis was inducted into the NMSU College of Engineering Circle of Honor. At the same ceremony, Dr. Shuguang Deng was named the first recipient of the Bob Davis Endowed Professorship in Chemical Engineering.