Walter R. Davis
Encyclopedia
Walter Royal Davis was a Texas oil tycoon and philanthropist originally from Elizabeth City, North Carolina
. He was also an influential figure in state politics and higher education. Davis Library, the graduate library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
since it opened in 1984, is named for Walter R. Davis, who was also a trustee at the university for 16 years. He died at his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
, at the age of 88, and is survived by his wife, Joanne, his daughter, Melba Whatley, and his three grandchildren, Hellen Pennell, Geraldine Hooks, and Rafe Greenlee. They also had a home in Midland, Texas
.
in 1938 and, with no money to attend college, supported himself with jobs as a clerk and truck driver in California, eventually joining management at a trucking firm.
, where he borrowed $1,000 to buy five trucks that could carry crude oil from wells in the Permian Basin to distant refineries. By the 1960s, this investment had grown into the Permian Corporation, a multi-million dollar business and the world’s largest independent petroleum transport company, with 1,100 employees, a tractor-trailer fleet of 550 vehicles and a strong presence in 15 oil states. After selling his company to Occidental Petroleum
in 1966, Davis became the top executive after CEO Armand Hammer
, helping lead Occidental as the company developed the first oil wells in the Middle East. Davis broke with Hammer and started a second oil transport company, bought refineries, and invested in oil and gas drilling ventures and other businesses. He also invested in real-estate projects in his home state, including Kildaire Farms in Cary, North Carolina
, and Bald Head Island and Southern Shores along the N.C. coast. Permian was later sold to National Intergroup, a holding company created by National Steel Corporation
, in 1985. Six years later, in 1991, it was bought by Ashland Inc. in a deal valued at $250 million and merged with Scurlock Oil Company
to create a subsidiary company known as Scurlock Permian Corporation. Ashland agreed to sell Scurlock Permian to Plains All American Pipeline
in 1999.
. Davis said that the reason why he worked so hard to provide higher education opportunities to others was that he never had that opportunity.
Davis was also a major donor to the Dean Smith Center
, which opened in 1986 and is still the home court of the UNC-Chapel Hill men's basketball team, and a scholarship program for students who agreed to teach in poor counties in northeastern North Carolina. In 1999 during a trustee meeting, then UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Nic Heinke asked his fellow board members to give a donation to Hurricane Floyd
relief efforts. Heinke passed around his baseball cap and came up with $400 in donations from trustees. When the hat got to Davis, he dropped in a check for $100,000. Then 79, Davis had to ask a fellow trustee to fill out the check because his eyesight was poor. He asked that the money go to displaced students at hard-hit East Carolina University
in Greenville, North Carolina
.
In the spring of 1999, Reyna Walters, student body president at UNC-Chapel Hill, chatted with Davis about her plan to earn money over the summer for a trip to Europe. He said he would make the trip happen, and soon after, a $10,000 check for Walters arrived from Davis. He was also known to leave five-thousand-dollar tips for struggling clerks and waitresses.
Award from the UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees, and in 2004 was the inaugural recipient of the Light on the Hill Award. Davis also served on the Duke University
board of trustees, and was a member of the University of North Carolina board of governors for 10 years.
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County and Camden County in the State of North Carolina. With a population of 18,683 at the 2010 census, Elizabeth City is the county seat of Pasquotank County....
. He was also an influential figure in state politics and higher education. Davis Library, the graduate library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
since it opened in 1984, is named for Walter R. Davis, who was also a trustee at the university for 16 years. He died at his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
, at the age of 88, and is survived by his wife, Joanne, his daughter, Melba Whatley, and his three grandchildren, Hellen Pennell, Geraldine Hooks, and Rafe Greenlee. They also had a home in Midland, Texas
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
.
Early life
Davis was born in Pasquotank County in poor, rural northeastern North Carolina, the fourth of six children of modest potato farming parents. He graduated from Hargrave Military AcademyHargrave Military Academy
Hargrave Military Academy is a private American boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia.Hargrave is a school affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Christian values that focuses on a college and military preparatory program...
in 1938 and, with no money to attend college, supported himself with jobs as a clerk and truck driver in California, eventually joining management at a trucking firm.
Businessman
In 1952, he moved to TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, where he borrowed $1,000 to buy five trucks that could carry crude oil from wells in the Permian Basin to distant refineries. By the 1960s, this investment had grown into the Permian Corporation, a multi-million dollar business and the world’s largest independent petroleum transport company, with 1,100 employees, a tractor-trailer fleet of 550 vehicles and a strong presence in 15 oil states. After selling his company to Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is a California-based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America...
in 1966, Davis became the top executive after CEO Armand Hammer
Armand Hammer
Armand Hammer was an American business tycoon most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, a company he ran for decades, though he was known as well as for his art collection, his philanthropy, and for his close ties to the Soviet Union.Thanks to business interests around the world and his...
, helping lead Occidental as the company developed the first oil wells in the Middle East. Davis broke with Hammer and started a second oil transport company, bought refineries, and invested in oil and gas drilling ventures and other businesses. He also invested in real-estate projects in his home state, including Kildaire Farms in Cary, North Carolina
Cary, North Carolina
Cary is a large town and suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located almost entirely in Wake County, it is the second largest municipality in that county and the third largest municipality in The Triangle after Raleigh and Durham...
, and Bald Head Island and Southern Shores along the N.C. coast. Permian was later sold to National Intergroup, a holding company created by National Steel Corporation
National Steel Corporation
The National Steel Corporation was a major American steel producer. It was founded in 1929 through a merger arranged by Weirton Steel with some properties of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation and M.A. Hanna Company. Despite a difficult market in Depression-setting 1930, the company reported USD...
, in 1985. Six years later, in 1991, it was bought by Ashland Inc. in a deal valued at $250 million and merged with Scurlock Oil Company
Scurlock Oil Company
The Scurlock Oil Company was a petroleum corporation with headquarters located in Houston, Texas.Founded in 1936 by Eddy C. Scurlock, the company was a tank car marketer of petroleum products, which emerged as an important transporter of crude oil and condensate.By 1982, the Scurlock Oil Company...
to create a subsidiary company known as Scurlock Permian Corporation. Ashland agreed to sell Scurlock Permian to Plains All American Pipeline
Plains All American Pipeline
Plains All American Pipeline is a publicly traded Master Limited Partnership in the oil pipeline transportation, marketing, and storage business in the United States, LPG business in Canada, and Natural Gas Storage business in Michigan and Louisiana...
in 1999.
Philanthropist
Despite finding his tremendous success elsewhere, Davis never forgot the state of his birth, to which he returned in the 1970s. He became a great benefactor to North Carolina's environment and its institutions. An unlettered man himself, but always aware of the power of education, he rose to the rank of trustee of at UNC-Chapel Hill, a post he held for 16 years, two of them as chairman of the board. During this time he shared his hard-earned wealth in a number of ways, including establishing scholarships and helping the less advantaged earn degrees. It was also during this time, in the 1970s, that he successfully fought to claim $32 million in funds from the state legislature from the sale of the university's utilities. It is from these funds that Davis Library became a reality, as well as renovations to Wilson Library and the Health Sciences Library. His many gifts have provided funds for students, faculty, campus buildings, research and strategic initiatives such as the Davis Oral History Fund supporting scholarly works in the Southern Oral History Program, a component of the Center for the Study of the American SouthCenter for the Study of the American South
The Center for the Study of the American South is an academic organization dedicated to the study of "southern history, literature, and culture as well as ongoing social, political, and economic issues" at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.-History:The CSAS was the brainchild of a...
. Davis said that the reason why he worked so hard to provide higher education opportunities to others was that he never had that opportunity.
Davis was also a major donor to the Dean Smith Center
Dean Smith Center
The Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center, usually called simply the Smith Center and popularly referred to as the Dean Dome is a multi-purpose arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The arena is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels men's basketball team, and temporary...
, which opened in 1986 and is still the home court of the UNC-Chapel Hill men's basketball team, and a scholarship program for students who agreed to teach in poor counties in northeastern North Carolina. In 1999 during a trustee meeting, then UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Nic Heinke asked his fellow board members to give a donation to Hurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Floyd triggered the third largest evacuation in US history when 2.6 million coastal residents of five states were ordered from their homes as it approached...
relief efforts. Heinke passed around his baseball cap and came up with $400 in donations from trustees. When the hat got to Davis, he dropped in a check for $100,000. Then 79, Davis had to ask a fellow trustee to fill out the check because his eyesight was poor. He asked that the money go to displaced students at hard-hit East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...
in Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of Pitt County and principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area. Greenville is the health, entertainment, and educational hub of North Carolina's Tidewater and Coastal Plain and in 2008 was listed as the Tenth Largest City in North Carolina...
.
In the spring of 1999, Reyna Walters, student body president at UNC-Chapel Hill, chatted with Davis about her plan to earn money over the summer for a trip to Europe. He said he would make the trip happen, and soon after, a $10,000 check for Walters arrived from Davis. He was also known to leave five-thousand-dollar tips for struggling clerks and waitresses.
Honors
In 1994, Walter Davis was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal from the General Alumni Association of UNC-Chapel Hill. He has also been awarded the William Richardson DavieWilliam Richardson Davie
William Richardson Davie was a military officer and the tenth Governor of North Carolina from 1798 to 1799, as well as one of the most important men involved in the founding of the University of North Carolina...
Award from the UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees, and in 2004 was the inaugural recipient of the Light on the Hill Award. Davis also served on the Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
board of trustees, and was a member of the University of North Carolina board of governors for 10 years.