About Phillip Davis
Dr. Phillip E. Davis was born in Greenville, SC where he attended public schools. He is a proud 1991 graduate of Southside High School and then graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. He began his career as a Material Planner/Buyer at Eaton Corporation in Greenwood SC.
After working in the electrical and automative manufacturing industry, Phillip decided to return to graduate school, with the love of his life, Tracie D. Cummings. Phillip and Tracie were engaged in August of 1998 and began graduate school at Clemson University to pursue an MBA. Phil and Tracie graduated together in May of 2000.
Phil next worked at Ingersoll-Rand (IR) where he soon accepted a leadership role for a new division within IR as a sourcing manager. After working at IR for more than 4 years, Phil changed industries and went to work for Bank of America in Charlotte, NC. There Phil held roles of increasing responsibilities an individual contributor, a team manager, and as a senior executive. In 2007, Phil was promoted to Senior Vice President, Supplier Management Executive, where he was responsible for managing four team managers, twenty-two individual contributors, a $1.3 B supply chain spend, and a $4.5 M budget. In 2010 Phil returned to school to pursue a doctorate in business.
Phil pursued a Ph.D. in management with an emphasis in strategic management and entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas. After completed his Ph.D. he moved back to North Carolina to join the East Carolina University faculty as a tenure-track assistant professor of management. He taught classes there and conducted research.
In 2016, Phil and his family moved back to Texas to join the faculty at Texas State University as a tenure-track assistant professor. Phil earned tenure and promotion to associate professor in September of 2021. In 2022, Phil accepted the role as the assistant chair of the Department of Management and was promoted again in January 2024 to Associate Dean for Faculty Success and Research. In his new role, Phil is responsible for overseeing the college’s research expenditures, research portfolio, and the development and success of more than 165 faculty members.
Throughout his professional careers in business and academia, Phil has authored and coauthored sixteen peer-reviewed journal articles, a book chapter in entrepreneurship, and presented countless more papers at academic conferences across the country.
Phil is a devoted husband to Tracie and dad to Ariel (18), PJ (14) and Briella (10). Phil and Tracie have been married for 23 years and they currently reside in Austin, TX. When they are not visiting Ariel at LSU, the Davis family is out supporting the kids in various competitions including dance and flag football (Briella), and football and track (PJ). Both Phil and Tracie are active volunteers to help support the kids by serving on committees, as coaches, and providing logistical support for their kids and their friends. Phil began coaching PJ’s flag football teams in 2014. He has coached all forms of football and his teams have won trophies. He and Ariel also performed dance routines during halftime performances and other special performances.
In 2021, Phil was asked by community members to run for the Lake Travis Independent School District (LTISD) school board. Given his steadfast passion to serve all kids, Phil entered the school board election race to lend his expertise and passion for learning to the community. On May 2, 2021, he was elected to the LTISD school board as a trustee for Place 1. He is currently serving a three-year term that ends in May of 2024. Phil is seeking re-election in 2024, where he would like to continue the important work of preparing students for their life journey that he and his other colleagues on the board are working towards.