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Dr. Henry Davis will be recognized for his work in the community on Sept. 6 at the annual Hancock Honors celebration at Allan Hancock College.
Dr. Henry Davis will be recognized for his work in the community on Sept. 6 at the annual Hancock Honors celebration at Allan Hancock College.
Dr. Henry Davis has spent a lifetime lifting up those around him. Whether in a college classroom, a veterans center, or a prison education program, he has quietly and powerfully made a difference.
At the 2025 Hancock Honors, the college where he worked for over 30 years will lift Davis up and recognize his legacy built on service, scholarship, and heart.
A U.S. Air Force veteran and Bronze Star recipient, Davis has always believed in the power of education. He earned six college degrees, proving that learning is a lifelong pursuit. That same belief fueled his 30-year career at Allan Hancock College, where he was one of the first African-American faculty members and one of the first to receive the distinct honor and title of “professor.”
“He’s the embodiment of service,” said Yvonne Teniente, Hancock’s dean of student services. “He just does the work — quietly, humbly — because he loves it. He simply wants to help.”
Teniente met Davis in 2001, when she was just beginning her career in counseling.
“I was told he was a legend, someone I needed to know,” she recalled. “He welcomed me with a big smile and said, ‘You’re going to be okay. I’m here to help you.’ And he did — he watched out for me like an older brother.”
Even after retiring, Davis never really stepped away. When the college launched its Veterans Success Center, he was the first to volunteer. He helped recruit students, brought in tutors and mentors and created a welcoming, supportive space for student veterans.
Davis brought that same energy and compassion to Hancock’s prison education programs. When students began writing long letters requesting help and guidance, Davis didn’t hesitate to volunteer.
He visited the prison regularly, evaluated transcripts, answered questions and even built a lending library to ensure incarcerated students had the textbooks and supplies they needed.
“Dr. Davis is part of a proud legacy of student-centered service at Hancock,” said Superintendent/President Kevin G. Walthers, Ph.D. “Whether in the classroom, the Veterans Center or reaching students behind prison walls, his commitment to building others up represents the very best of who we are as a college and a community.”
Davis’s influence also lives on in the colleagues he mentored.
“He changed how I counsel students,” said Teniente. “I learned from him how to validate our students, how to show them they matter. He means the world to me.”
Davis will be recognized for his contributions to the community at the Allan Hancock College Foundation’s annual Hancock Honors celebration on Sept. 6 at the college’s Santa Maria campus.
To learn more, visit https://www.hancockcollege.edu/honors.
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