Presenter Profile: Rev. France A. Davis

The Rev. France A. Davis was born and reared on a Gough, Georgia farm to John H. and Julia Davis. After high school, he attended Tuskegee Institute and later became an Air force jet mechanic. He earned degrees in Afro-American Studies from Merritt College; Arts and Humanities from Laney College; Rhetoric from University of California at Berkeley; Religion and Philosophy from Westminster College; Master of Mass Communication from the University of Utah; and Master of Ministry from Northwest Nazarene College.

He came to Salt Lake City in 1972 as a teaching fellow and graduate student. He was appointed instructor in communication and ethnic studies courses, earning a distinguished teacher award, and continues to teach in the University of Utah’s Honors and Ethnic Studies Program as Adjunct Associate Professor.

He was licensed in 1966 and ordained in 1971 for ministry. Presently, Rev. Davis is, and has been since 1974, the full time pastor of the historic Calvary Missionary Baptist Church of Salt Lake City, Utah.

He lectures widely on cultural and religious topics. He has received numerous awards including an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from the University of Utah in 1993, Salt Lake Community College in 1997, Dixie State College in 2002, an official citation from the Utah House of Representatives in recognition of outstanding service to his community, state and nation in 2006, was appointed as a member to the Salt Lake Community College Board of Trustees in 2007 and received the Westminster 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award. Rev. Davis has had five scholarships established in his honor covering the period from 2002-2007: University of Utah, The Waterford School, Rowland Hall St. Marks School, Salt Lake Theological Seminary all Salt Lake City, Utah and Ransom Everglades School, Miami, Florida. Rev. Davis was appointed to the Utah Board of Regents, 2008 and Vice President of the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education in 2009.

Rev. Davis enjoys a wife, two daughters, a son, and a grandson.

Rev. Davis is teaching "Sojourners in the Land of Zion: A Historical Overview of Blacks in Utah" at 4:00pm on Friday afternoon with Dr. Ronald Coleman